An explicit high-order single-stage single-step positivity-preserving finite difference WENO method for the compressible Euler equations

In this work we construct a high-order, single-stage, single-step positivity-preserving method for the compressible Euler equations. Space is discretized with the finite difference weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) method. Time is discretized through a Lax-Wendroff procedure that is constructed from the Picard integral formulation (PIF) of the partial differential equation. The method can be viewed as a modified flux approach, where a linear combination of a low- and high-order flux defines the numerical flux used for a single-step update. The coefficients of the linear combination are constructed by solving a simple optimization problem at each time step. The high-order flux itself is constructed through the use of Taylor series and the Cauchy-Kowalewski procedure that incorporates higher-order terms. Numerical results in one- and two-dimensions are presented

High-order accurate physical-constraints-preserving finite difference WENO schemes for special relativistic hydrodynamics

The paper develops high-order accurate physical-constraints-preserving finite difference WENO schemes for special relativistic hydrodynamical (RHD) equations, built on the local Lax-Friedrich splitting, the WENO reconstruction, the physical-constraints-preserving flux limiter, and the high-order strong stability preserving time discretization. They are extensions of the positivity-preserving finite difference WENO schemes for the non-relativistic Euler equations. However, developing physical-constraints-preserving methods for the RHD system becomes much more difficult than the non-relativistic case because of the strongly coupling between the RHD equations, no explicit expressions of the primitive variables and the flux vectors, in terms of the conservative vector, and one more physical constraint for the fluid velocity in addition to the positivity of the rest-mass density and the pressure. The key is to prove the convexity and other properties of the admissible state set and discover a concave function with respect to the conservative vector replacing the pressure which is an important ingredient to enforce the positivity-preserving property for the non-relativistic case. Several one- and two-dimensional numerical examples are used to demonstrate accuracy, robustness, and effectiveness of the proposed physical-constraints-preserving schemes in solving RHD problems with large Lorentz factor, or strong discontinuities, or low rest-mass density or pressure etc.Comment: 39 pages, 13 figure

A general positivity-preserving algorithm for implicit high-order finite volume schemes solving the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

This paper presents a general positivity-preserving algorithm for implicit high-order finite volume schemes solving Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. Previous positivity-preserving algorithms are mainly based on mathematical analyses, being highly dependent on the existence of low-order positivity-preserving numerical schemes for specific governing equations. This dependency poses serious restrictions on extending these algorithms to temporally implicit schemes, since it is difficult to know if a low-order implicit scheme is positivity-preserving. The present positivity-preserving algorithm is based on an asymptotic analysis of the solutions near local vacuum minimum points. The asymptotic analysis shows that the solutions decay exponentially with time to maintain non-negative density and pressure at a local vacuum minimum point. In its neighborhood, the exponential evolution leads to a modification of the linear evolution process, which can be modelled by a direct correction of the linear residual to ensure positivity. This correction however destroys the conservation of the numerical scheme. Therefore, a second correction procedure is proposed to recover conservation. The proposed positivity-preserving algorithm is considerably less restrictive than existing algorithms. It does not rely on the existence of low-order positivity-preserving baseline schemes and the convex decomposition of volume integrals of flow quantities. It does not need to reduce the time step size for maintaining the stability either. Furthermore, it can be implemented iteratively in the implicit dual time-stepping schemes to preserve positivity of the intermediate and converged states of the sub-iterations. It is proved that the present positivity-preserving algorithm is accuracy-preserving. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm preserves the positive density and pressure in all test cases.Comment: 52 pages, 8 figure