Enhanced convergence estimates for semi-Lagrangian schemes application to the Vlasov-Poisson equation (Q2840381)

This paper is concerned with the error estimate for the high-order semi-Lagrangian discretization of the Vlasov-Poisson equation. The main result of the paper is as follows:NEWLINENEWLINEConsider the Vlasov-Poisson equation \(f_v+vf_x+E(t,x)f_v=0\), with \(E_x(t,x)=\int_{-\infty}^{+\infty}f(t,x,v)dv-1\), where \(f(x,t,v)\) is the distribution function of charged particles and \(E(t,x)\) is the self-consistent electric field. We assume that \(f\) satisfies periodic boundary conditions \(f(t,0,v)=f(t,L,v)\), \(v\in \mathbb R\), \(t\geq 0\), and \(E(t,0)=E(t,L)\). Consider a semi-Langrangian scheme of order \(p\) with Strang's splitting in time and assume the grid is such that \(\Delta v=\alpha \Delta x\), for some constant \(\alpha\). Then, there exists a positive constant \(C\) which depends on \(T\), on the regularity of the solution and on the parameters of the problem such that the numerical error \(e^n=f^n-f(t_n)\) satisfies the \(L^2\)-bound: NEWLINE\[NEWLINE \|e^n\|_{L^2}\leq C\left\{\min\Big(\frac{\Delta x}{\Delta t},1\Big)\Delta x^p+\Delta t^2 \right\}. NEWLINE\]