Convergence analysis of a multigrid algorithm for the acoustic single layer equation (Q415199)

The authors analyze a multigrid algorithm for the acoustic single layer integral equation in two dimensions. They introduce a computable inner product whose induced norm is equivalent to the natural energy norm in \( H^{-1}(\Gamma )\) on finite-dimensional test spaces. The multigrid strategy relies on reformulating the weak form of the single layer equation using both the standard inner product in \(H^{-1}(\Gamma )\) and the new computable version for piecewise constant functions. A convergence and error analysis of the algorithm is presented. The key component is the study of the difference between the single layer operators for the Laplace and for the Helmholtz equations. Finally the authors conduct a numerical study of the effect of the inner product on the oscillatory behaviour of the eigenfunctions for the Laplace single layer operator.