Boundary approximation methods for potential problems associated with moving boundary problems (Q1186899)

The authors consider moving and free boundary problems for Laplace's equation. These include flow in a Hele-Shaw cell, steady and unsteady water waves, free surface flow in a porous medium, electro-mechanical machining and Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The numerical solution of such problems can usually be separated into solving first the potential problem for a given domain followed by the solution of the evolution equation for the moving boundary. The authors concentrate on the first of these. A spectral method is used for the solution of the problem. With the aid of results from approximation theory and classical complex variable theory they prove results on the approximating properties of the basic harmonic polynomials and the degree of convergence of these approximations. A least squares method using a singular value decomposition is proposed for the numerical solution of the problem. The paper closes with some numerical results for a problem related to a steady state electro-mechanical problem for which the exact solution is known.