Finite element methods for surface PDEs

In this article we consider finite element methods for approximating the solution of partial differential equations on surfaces. We focus on surface finite elements on triangulated surfaces, implicit surface methods using level set descriptions of the surface, unfitted finite element methods and diffuse interface methods. In order to formulate the methods we present the necessary geometric analysis and, in the context of evolving surfaces, the necessary transport formulae. A wide variety of equations and applications are covered. Some ideas of the numerical analysis are presented along with illustrative numerical examples

Finite element error analysis of wave equations with dynamic boundary conditions: L2L^2 estimates

$L^2$ norm error estimates of semi- and full discretisations, using bulk--surface finite elements and Runge--Kutta methods, of wave equations with dynamic boundary conditions are studied. The analysis resides on an abstract formulation and error estimates, via energy techniques, within this abstract setting. Four prototypical linear wave equations with dynamic boundary conditions are analysed which fit into the abstract framework. For problems with velocity terms, or with acoustic boundary conditions we prove surprising results: for such problems the spatial convergence order is shown to be less than two. These can also be observed in the presented numerical experiments

Cosmological parameters from large scale structure - geometric versus shape information

The matter power spectrum as derived from large scale structure (LSS) surveys contains two important and distinct pieces of information: an overall smooth shape and the imprint of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We investigate the separate impact of these two types of information on cosmological parameter estimation, and show that for the simplest cosmological models, the broad-band shape information currently contained in the SDSS DR7 halo power spectrum (HPS) is by far superseded by geometric information derived from the baryonic features. An immediate corollary is that contrary to popular beliefs, the upper limit on the neutrino mass m_\nu presently derived from LSS combined with cosmic microwave background (CMB) data does not in fact arise from the possible small-scale power suppression due to neutrino free-streaming, if we limit the model framework to minimal LambdaCDM+m_\nu. However, in more complicated models, such as those extended with extra light degrees of freedom and a dark energy equation of state parameter w differing from -1, shape information becomes crucial for the resolution of parameter degeneracies. This conclusion will remain true even when data from the Planck surveyor become available. In the course of our analysis, we introduce a new dewiggling procedure that allows us to extend consistently the use of the SDSS HPS to models with an arbitrary sound horizon at decoupling. All the cases considered here are compatible with the conservative 95%-bounds \sum m_\nu < 1.16 eV, N_eff = 4.8 \pm 2.0.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures; v2: references added, matches published versio

Structure-preserving mesh coupling based on the Buffa-Christiansen complex

The state of the art for mesh coupling at nonconforming interfaces is presented and reviewed. Mesh coupling is frequently applied to the modeling and simulation of motion in electromagnetic actuators and machines. The paper exploits Whitney elements to present the main ideas. Both interpolation- and projection-based methods are considered. In addition to accuracy and efficiency, we emphasize the question whether the schemes preserve the structure of the de Rham complex, which underlies Maxwell's equations. As a new contribution, a structure-preserving projection method is presented, in which Lagrange multiplier spaces are chosen from the Buffa-Christiansen complex. Its performance is compared with a straightforward interpolation based on Whitney and de Rham maps, and with Galerkin projection.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures. Some figures are omitted due to a restricted copyright. Full paper to appear in Mathematics of Computatio

Numerical simulation of conservation laws with moving grid nodes: Application to tsunami wave modelling

In the present article we describe a few simple and efficient finite volume type schemes on moving grids in one spatial dimension combined with appropriate predictor-corrector method to achieve higher resolution. The underlying finite volume scheme is conservative and it is accurate up to the second order in space. The main novelty consists in the motion of the grid. This new dynamic aspect can be used to resolve better the areas with large solution gradients or any other special features. No interpolation procedure is employed, thus unnecessary solution smearing is avoided, and therefore, our method enjoys excellent conservation properties. The resulting grid is completely redistributed according the choice of the so-called monitor function. Several more or less universal choices of the monitor function are provided. Finally, the performance of the proposed algorithm is illustrated on several examples stemming from the simple linear advection to the simulation of complex shallow water waves. The exact well-balanced property is proven. We believe that the techniques described in our paper can be beneficially used to model tsunami wave propagation and run-up.Comment: 46 pages, 7 figures, 7 tables, 94 references. Accepted to Geosciences. Other author's papers can be downloaded at http://www.denys-dutykh.com