Semi-discrete Schwarz waveform relaxation algorithms for reaction diffusion equations (Q466819)

The paper deals with a so-called Schwarz waveform relaxation (SWR) algorithm which can be widely used for solving time dependent problems. The main goal of the paper is to present an analysis of a continuous and a semi-discrete Schwarz waveform relaxation algorithm. This is done for a time-dependent reaction-diffusion equation given for a one space dimension domain \(\Omega=\mathbb R\) with some initial condition. A brief description of the SWR algorithm is presented in his classical form with a Dirichlet transmission condition and then also with a Robin transmission condition. For both cases, two types of space discretization of the second-order derivative are used. First, the standard second-order finite difference is used and then also a fourth-order compact finite difference. For both cases when the Dirichlet transmission condition in the SWR algorithm is prescribed, the semi-discrete SWR algorithm performs as predicted by the continuous analysis. This is not the case, when the Robin transmission condition is used. In this case, the semi discrete SWR algorithm performs worse than predicted by the continuous analysis. For all cases, the convergence factors of the semi-discrete SWR algorithm are derived and they are almost equal. Finally, several numerical experiments for a validation of the theoretical results conclude the paper.