Moving mesh methods (also called r-adaptive methods) are space-adaptive
strategies used for the numerical simulation of time-dependent partial
differential equations. These methods keep the total number of mesh points
fixed during the simulation, but redistribute them over time to follow the
areas where a higher mesh point density is required. There are a very limited
number of moving mesh methods designed for solving field-theoretic partial
differential equations, and the numerical analysis of the resulting schemes is
challenging. In this paper we present two ways to construct r-adaptive
variational and multisymplectic integrators for (1+1)-dimensional Lagrangian
field theories. The first method uses a variational discretization of the
physical equations and the mesh equations are then coupled in a way typical of
the existing r-adaptive schemes. The second method treats the mesh points as
pseudo-particles and incorporates their dynamics directly into the variational
principle. A user-specified adaptation strategy is then enforced through
Lagrange multipliers as a constraint on the dynamics of both the physical field
and the mesh points. We discuss the advantages and limitations of our methods.
Numerical results for the Sine-Gordon equation are also presented.Comment: 65 pages, 13 figure
