A study of the numerical stability of an ImEx scheme with application to the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations (Q1995975)

The authors employ an adaptive time-stepper based on a second-order variable step-size, semi-implicit, backward differentiation formula (VSSBDF2) for solving the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations with generalized Frumkin-Butler-Volmer boundary conditions (PNP-FBV). It is noted that, when the underlying dynamics is such that the solutions converge to a steady-state solution, the adaptive time-stepper produces solutions that ``nearly'' converge to the steady state and that, simultaneously, the time-step sizes stabilize to a limiting size. A linearization is considered and it is shown that this scheme is conditionally stable and that this is the cause of the adaptive time-stepper's behavior. Mesh-refinement, as well as a study of the eigenvectors corresponding to the critical eigenvalues, demonstrate that the conditional stability is not due to a time-step restriction caused by high-frequency contributions. The stability domain of the linearized scheme is considered and it is shown that its boundary can have corners as well as jump discontinuities.