We are concerned with the convergence of Lax-Wendroff type schemes with high resolution to the entropy solutions for conservation laws. These schemes include the original Lax-Wendroff scheme proposed by Lax and Wendroff in 1960 and its two step versions–the Richtmyer scheme and the MacCormack scheme. For the convex scalar conservation laws with algebraic growth flux functions, we prove the convergence of these schemes to the weak solutions satisfying appropriate entropy inequalities. The proof is based on detailed L p estimates of the approximate solutions, H −1 compactness estimates of the corresponding entropy dissipation measures, and some compensated compactness frameworks. Then these techniques are generalized to study the convergence problem for the nonconvex scalar case and the hyperbolic systems of conservation

We consider finite difference schemes based on the impulse density variable. We show that the original velocity—impulse density formulation of Oseledets is marginally ill-posed for the inviscid flow, and this has the consequence that some ordinarily stable numerical methods in other formulations become unstable in the velocity—impulse density formulation. We present numerical evidence of this instability. We then discuss the construction of stable finite difference schemes by requiring that at the numerical level the nonlinear terms be convertible to similar terms in the primitive variable formulation. Finally we give a simplified velocity—impulse density formulation which is free of these complications and yet retains the nice features of the original velocity—impulse density formulation with regard to the treatment of boundary. We present numerical results on this simplified formulation for the driven cavity flow on both the staggered and non-staggered grids.

The Euler equation of compressible flows is solved by the finite volume method, where high order accuracy is achieved by the reconstruction of each component of upwind fluxes of a flux splitting using the biased averaging procedure. Compared to the solution reconstruction in Godunov-type methods, its implementation is simple and easy, and the computational complexity is relatively low. This approach is parameter-free and requires neither a Riemann solver nor field-by-field decomposition. The numerical results from both dynamic and steady state calculations demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of this approach. Some techniques for the acceleration of the convergence to the steady state are discussed, including multigrid and multistage Runge–Kutta time methods.

Solutions to conservation laws satisfy the monotonicity property: the number of local extrema is a non-increasing function of time, and local maximum/minimum values decrease/increase monotonically in time. This paper investigates this property from a numerical standpoint. We introduce a class of fully discrete in space and time, high order accurate, difference schemes, called generalized monotone schemes. Convergence toward the entropy solution is proven via a new technique of proof, assuming that the initial data has a finite number of extremum values only, and the flux-function is strictly convex. We define discrete paths of extrema by tracking local extremum values in the approximate solution. In the course of the analysis we establish the pointwise convergence of the trace of the solution along a path of extremum. As a corollary, we obtain a proof of convergence for a MUSCL-type scheme being second order accurate away from sonic points and extrema.

We prove the convergence of a discontinuous Galerkin method approximating the 2-D incompressible Euler equations with discontinuous initial vorticity:$omega_0 in L^2(Omega)$. Furthermore, when $omega_0 in L^infty(Omega)$, the whole sequence is shown to be strongly convergent. This is the first convergence result in numerical approximations of this general class of discontinuous flows. Some important flows such as vortex patches belong to this class.