Analysis of an asymptotic preserving scheme for linear kinetic equations in the diffusion limit

We present a mathematical analysis of the asymptotic preserving scheme proposed in [M. Lemou and L. Mieussens, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 31, pp. 334-368, 2008] for linear transport equations in kinetic and diffusive regimes. We prove that the scheme is uniformly stable and accurate with respect to the mean free path of the particles. This property is satisfied under an explicitly given CFL condition. This condition tends to a parabolic CFL condition for small mean free paths, and is close to a convection CFL condition for large mean free paths. Ou r analysis is based on very simple energy estimates

High Order Asymptotic Preserving DG-IMEX Schemes for Discrete-Velocity Kinetic Equations in a Diffusive Scaling

In this paper, we develop a family of high order asymptotic preserving schemes for some discrete-velocity kinetic equations under a diffusive scaling, that in the asymptotic limit lead to macroscopic models such as the heat equation, the porous media equation, the advection-diffusion equation, and the viscous Burgers equation. Our approach is based on the micro-macro reformulation of the kinetic equation which involves a natural decomposition of the equation to the equilibrium and non-equilibrium parts. To achieve high order accuracy and uniform stability as well as to capture the correct asymptotic limit, two new ingredients are employed in the proposed methods: discontinuous Galerkin spatial discretization of arbitrary order of accuracy with suitable numerical fluxes; high order globally stiffly accurate implicit-explicit Runge-Kutta scheme in time equipped with a properly chosen implicit-explicit strategy. Formal asymptotic analysis shows that the proposed scheme in the limit of epsilon -> 0 is an explicit, consistent and high order discretization for the limiting equation. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the stability and high order accuracy of the proposed schemes together with their performance in the limit

Implicit-Explicit multistep methods for hyperbolic systems with multiscale relaxation

We consider the development of high order space and time numerical methods based on Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) multistep time integrators for hyperbolic systems with relaxation. More specifically, we consider hyperbolic balance laws in which the convection and the source term may have very different time and space scales. As a consequence the nature of the asymptotic limit changes completely, passing from a hyperbolic to a parabolic system. From the computational point of view, standard numerical methods designed for the fluid-dynamic scaling of hyperbolic systems with relaxation present several drawbacks and typically lose efficiency in describing the parabolic limit regime. In this work, in the context of Implicit-Explicit linear multistep methods we construct high order space-time discretizations which are able to handle all the different scales and to capture the correct asymptotic behavior, independently from its nature, without time step restrictions imposed by the fast scales. Several numerical examples confirm the theoretical analysis

Well-balanced and asymptotic preserving schemes for kinetic models

In this paper, we propose a general framework for designing numerical schemes that have both well-balanced (WB) and asymptotic preserving (AP) properties, for various kinds of kinetic models. We are interested in two different parameter regimes, 1) When the ratio between the mean free path and the characteristic macroscopic length $\epsilon$ tends to zero, the density can be described by (advection) diffusion type (linear or nonlinear) macroscopic models; 2) When $\epsilon$ = O(1), the models behave like hyperbolic equations with source terms and we are interested in their steady states. We apply the framework to three different kinetic models: neutron transport equation and its diffusion limit, the transport equation for chemotaxis and its Keller-Segel limit, and grey radiative transfer equation and its nonlinear diffusion limit. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the properties of the schemes

Asymptotic preserving schemes for highly oscillatory kinetic equation

This work is devoted to the numerical simulation of a Vlasov-Poisson model describing a charged particle beam under the action of a rapidly oscillating external electric field. We construct an Asymptotic Preserving numerical scheme for this kinetic equation in the highly oscillatory limit. This scheme enables to simulate the problem without using any time step refinement technique. Moreover, since our numerical method is not based on the derivation of the simulation of asymptotic models, it works in the regime where the solution does not oscillate rapidly, and in the highly oscillatory regime as well. Our method is based on a "double-scale" reformulation of the initial equation, with the introduction of an additional periodic variable