58 research outputs found

    Backward error analysis for multisymplectic discretizations of Hamiltonian PDEs

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    Several recently developed multisymplectic schemes for Hamiltonian PDEs have been shown to preserve associated local conservation laws and constraints very well in long time numerical simulations. Backward error analysis for PDEs, or the method of modified equations, is a useful technique for studying the qualitative behavior of a discretization and provides insight into the preservation properties of the scheme. In this paper we initiate a backward error analysis for PDE discretizations, in particular of multisymplectic box schemes for the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. We show that the associated modified differential equations are also multisymplectic and derive the modified conservation laws which are satisfied to higher order by the numerical solution. Higher order preservation of the modified local conservation laws is verified numerically.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted Math. and Comp. Simul., May 200

    Geometric numerical schemes for the KdV equation

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    Geometric discretizations that preserve certain Hamiltonian structures at the discrete level has been proven to enhance the accuracy of numerical schemes. In particular, numerous symplectic and multi-symplectic schemes have been proposed to solve numerically the celebrated Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation. In this work, we show that geometrical schemes are as much robust and accurate as Fourier-type pseudo-spectral methods for computing the long-time KdV dynamics, and thus more suitable to model complex nonlinear wave phenomena.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, 74 references. Other author's papers can be downloaded at http://www.lama.univ-savoie.fr/~dutykh

    Backward error analysis for variational discretisations of partial differential equations

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    In backward error analysis, an approximate solution to an equation is compared to the exact solution to a nearby "modified" equation. In numerical ordinary differential equations, the two agree up to any power of the step size. If the differential equation has a geometric property then the modified equation may share it. In this way, known properties of differential equations can be applied to the approximation. But for partial differential equations, the known modified equations are of higher order, limiting applicability of the theory. Therefore, we study symmetric solutions of discretized partial differential equations that arise from a discrete variational principle. These symmetric solutions obey infinite-dimensional functional equations. We show that these equations admit second-order modified equations which are Hamiltonian and also possess first-order Lagrangians in modified coordinates. The modified equation and its associated structures are computed explicitly for the case of rotating travelling waves in the nonlinear wave equation

    Asynchronous Variational Integrators

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    We describe a new class of asynchronous variational integrators (AVI) for nonlinear elastodynamics. The AVIs are distinguished by the following attributes: (i) The algorithms permit the selection of independent time steps in each element, and the local time steps need not bear an integral relation to each other; (ii) the algorithms derive from a spacetime form of a discrete version of Hamilton’s variational principle. As a consequence of this variational structure, the algorithms conserve local momenta and a local discrete multisymplectic structure exactly. To guide the development of the discretizations, a spacetime multisymplectic formulation of elastodynamics is presented. The variational principle used incorporates both configuration and spacetime reference variations. This allows a unified treatment of all the conservation properties of the system.A discrete version of reference configuration is also considered, providing a natural definition of a discrete energy. The possibilities for discrete energy conservation are evaluated. Numerical tests reveal that, even when local energy balance is not enforced exactly, the global and local energy behavior of the AVIs is quite remarkable, a property which can probably be traced to the symplectic nature of the algorith

    Multisymplectic geometry, variational integrators, and nonlinear PDEs

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    This paper presents a geometric-variational approach to continuous and discrete mechanics and field theories. Using multisymplectic geometry, we show that the existence of the fundamental geometric structures as well as their preservation along solutions can be obtained directly from the variational principle. In particular, we prove that a unique multisymplectic structure is obtained by taking the derivative of an action function, and use this structure to prove covariant generalizations of conservation of symplecticity and Noether's theorem. Natural discretization schemes for PDEs, which have these important preservation properties, then follow by choosing a discrete action functional. In the case of mechanics, we recover the variational symplectic integrators of Veselov type, while for PDEs we obtain covariant spacetime integrators which conserve the corresponding discrete multisymplectic form as well as the discrete momentum mappings corresponding to symmetries. We show that the usual notion of symplecticity along an infinite-dimensional space of fields can be naturally obtained by making a spacetime split. All of the aspects of our method are demonstrated with a nonlinear sine-Gordon equation, including computational results and a comparison with other discretization schemes.Comment: LaTeX2E, 52 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Comm. Math. Phy

    Energy conservation issues in the numerical solution of the semilinear wave equation

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    In this paper we discuss energy conservation issues related to the numerical solution of the nonlinear wave equation. As is well known, this problem can be cast as a Hamiltonian system that may be autonomous or not, depending on the specific boundary conditions at hand. We relate the conservation properties of the original problem to those of its semi-discrete version obtained by the method of lines. Subsequently, we show that the very same properties can be transferred to the solutions of the fully discretized problem, obtained by using energy-conserving methods in the HBVMs (Hamiltonian Boundary Value Methods) class. Similar arguments hold true for different types of Hamiltonian Partial Differential Equations, e.g., the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation.Comment: 41 pages, 11 figur

    Variational Structures in Cochain Projection Based Variational Discretizations of Lagrangian PDEs

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    Compatible discretizations, such as finite element exterior calculus, provide a discretization framework that respect the cohomological structure of the de Rham complex, which can be used to systematically construct stable mixed finite element methods. Multisymplectic variational integrators are a class of geometric numerical integrators for Lagrangian and Hamiltonian field theories, and they yield methods that preserve the multisymplectic structure and momentum-conservation properties of the continuous system. In this paper, we investigate the synthesis of these two approaches, by constructing discretization of the variational principle for Lagrangian field theories utilizing structure-preserving finite element projections. In our investigation, compatible discretization by cochain projections plays a pivotal role in the preservation of the variational structure at the discrete level, allowing the discrete variational structure to essentially be the restriction of the continuum variational structure to a finite-dimensional subspace. The preservation of the variational structure at the discrete level will allow us to construct a discrete Cartan form, which encodes the variational structure of the discrete theory, and subsequently, we utilize the discrete Cartan form to naturally state discrete analogues of Noether's theorem and multisymplecticity, which generalize those introduced in the discrete Lagrangian variational framework by Marsden et al. [29]. We will study both covariant spacetime discretization and canonical spatial semi-discretization, and subsequently relate the two in the case of spacetime tensor product finite element spaces.Comment: 44 pages, 1 figur
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