Accurate spectral numerical schemes for kinetic equations with energy diffusion

DOI10.1016/J.JCP.2015.03.039zbMATH Open1349.76652arXiv1402.2971OpenAlexW1997773080MaRDI QIDQ349963FDOQ349963

Authors: Jon Wilkening, Antoine J. Cerfon, Matt Landreman 

Publication date: 5 December 2016

Published in: Journal of Computational Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We examine the merits of using a family of polynomials that are orthogonal with respect to a non-classical weight function to discretize the speed variable in continuum kinetic calculations. We consider a model one-dimensional partial differential equation describing energy diffusion in velocity space due to Fokker-Planck collisions. This relatively simple case allows us to compare the results of the projected dynamics with an expensive but highly accurate spectral transform approach. It also allows us to integrate in time exactly, and to focus entirely on the effectiveness of the discretization of the speed variable. We show that for a fixed number of modes or grid points, the non-classical polynomials can be many orders of magnitude more accurate than classical Hermite polynomials or finite-difference solvers for kinetic equations in plasma physics. We provide a detailed analysis of the difference in behavior and accuracy of the two families of polynomials. For the non-classical polynomials, if the initial condition is not smooth at the origin when interpreted as a three-dimensional radial function, the exact solution leaves the polynomial subspace for a time, but returns (up to roundoff accuracy) to the same point evolved to by the projected dynamics in that time. By contrast, using classical polynomials, the exact solution differs significantly from the projected dynamics solution when it returns to the subspace. We also explore the connection between eigenfunctions of the projected evolution operator and (non-normalizable) eigenfunctions of the full evolution operator, as well as the effect of truncating the computational domain.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1402.2971

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zbMATH Keywords

orthogonal polynomialscontinuous spectrumcontinuum kinetic calculationsFokker-Plank collisionsSturm-Liouville theory

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Stochastic methods (Fokker-Planck, Langevin, etc.) applied to problems in time-dependent statistical mechanics (82C31) Statistical mechanics of plasmas (82D10) Spectral, collocation and related methods for initial value and initial-boundary value problems involving PDEs (65M70) Turbulent transport, mixing (76F25) Ionized gas flow in electromagnetic fields; plasmic flow (76X05)

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Cited In (8)

• Kinetically consistent high-accuracy schemes.
• Krylov iterative methods and synthetic acceleration for transport in binary statistical media
• Relic neutrino freeze-out: dependence on natural constants
• The unified transform for mixed boundary condition problems in unbounded domains
• A Spectral Transform Method for Singular Sturm--Liouville Problems with Applications to Energy Diffusion in Plasma Physics
• Accurate spectral numerical schemes for kinetic equations with energy diffusion
• An efficient numerical method for solving the Boltzmann equation in multidimensions
• Computing the Dirichlet--Neumann Operator on a Cylinder

Uses Software

• AstroGK
• gs2

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