A modified Chebyshev pseudospectral method with an \(O(N^{-1})\) time step restriction (Q1209873)

In classical pseudospectral methods the spacing between the interpolation points near the boundary is of the order \(O(N^{-2})\). For this reason, the extreme eigenvalues of a pseudospectral operator are of the order \(O(N^ 2)\). This imposes a limitation on the time step of the order \(O(N^{-2})\) in the explicit methods. The condensation of the interpolation point is very often unaffected by the requirements of a specific problem which is characteristic for the pseudospectral method. The authors suggest that a ``stretch function'' \(g(y;\alpha)\) which depends on a parameter \(\alpha\) should be introduced and that the interpolation points should be selected proceeding from the condition \(x_ i = g(y_ i;\alpha)\) where \(y_ i\) stands for Chebyshev (Legendre) points. Stretching is introduced in such a way that the spacing between the interpolation points becomes of the order \(O(N^{- 1})\). Then the extreme eigenvalues are of the order \(O(N^ 1)\) which enables one to increase significantly the timestep in explicit methods. Different \(g\) functions are theoretically and experimentally studied as well as the effect of the parameter \(\alpha\) on the accuracy and time of computation.