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Title: A discontinuous Galerkin method for nonlinear parabolic equations and gradient flow problems with interaction potentials

Journal Article · · Journal of Computational Physics

We consider a class of time-dependent second order partial differential equations governed by a decaying entropy. The solution usually corresponds to a density distribution, hence positivity (non-negativity) is expected. This class of problems covers important cases such as Fokker–Planck type equations and aggregation models, which have been studied intensively in the past decades. In this paper, we design a high order discontinuous Galerkin method for such problems. If the interaction potential is not involved, or the interaction is defined by a smooth kernel, our semi-discrete scheme admits an entropy inequality on the discrete level. Furthermore, by applying the positivity-preserving limiter, our fully discretized scheme produces non-negative solutions for all cases under a time step constraint. Our method also applies to two dimensional problems on Cartesian meshes. Numerical examples are given to confirm the high order accuracy for smooth test cases and to demonstrate the effectiveness for preserving long time asymptotics.

Research Organization:
Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-08ER25863
OSTI ID:
1459035
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1511584
Journal Information:
Journal of Computational Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Computational Physics Vol. 352 Journal Issue: C; ISSN 0021-9991
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 29 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Cited By (1)

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