A Petrov-Galerkin finite element scheme for the regularized long wave equation (Q2576500)

The regularized long wave (RLW) equation models unidirectional weakly nonlinear unidirectional and weakly dispersive water waves. In this paper a finite element method is used in both space and time to model this equation within each time-slab \([t_n,t_{n+1}]\). The authors combine this with a predictor-corrector scheme to connect the solution in different time-slabs and to handle the nonlinear nature of the equation. It is proved that the obtained scheme is conditionally stable and third-order accurate in the nonlinear version, and fourth-order accurate in the linear version. Numerical test are performed on three different examples: a solitary wave, an undular bore wave, and a periodic wave. The results of the present scheme on these examples are compared with the results from several other schemes for RLW equation with respect to accuracy and conservation properties (there are three conserved quantities for the RLW equation). In addition, the computational efficiency of the scheme is analysed.