In this paper, we provide stability and convergence analysis for a class of finite difference schemes for unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in vorticity-stream function formulation. The no-slip boundary condition for the velocity is converted into local vorticity boundary conditions. Thom's formula, Wilkes' formula, or other local formulas in the earlier literature can be used in the second order method; while high order formulas, such as Briley's formula, can be used in the fourth order compact difference scheme proposed by E and Liu. The stability analysis of these long-stencil formulas cannot be directly derived from straightforward manipulations since more than one interior point is involved in the formula. The main idea of the stability analysis is to control local terms by global quantities via discrete elliptic regularity for stream function. We choose to analyze the second order scheme with Wilkes' formula in detail. In this case, we can avoid the complicated technique necessitated by the Strang-type high order expansions. As a consequence, our analysis results in almost optimal regularity assumption for the exact solution. The above methodology is very general. We also give a detailed analysis for the fourth order scheme using a 1-D Stokes model.

In a previous work [P. Crispel, P. Degond, and M.-H. Vignal, J. Comput. Phys., 223 (2007), pp. 208–234], a new numerical discretization of the Euler–Poisson system was proposed. This scheme is “asymptotic preserving” in the quasineutral limit (i.e., when the Debye length $\varepsilon$ tends to zero), which means that it becomes consistent with the limit model when $\varepsilon \to 0$. In the present work, we show that the stability domain of the present scheme is independent of $\varepsilon$. This stability analysis is performed on the Fourier transformed (with respect to the space variable) linearized system. We show that the stability property is more robust when a space-decentered scheme is used (which brings in some numerical dissipation) rather than a space-centered scheme. The linearization is first performed about a zero mean velocity and then about a nonzero mean velocity. At the various stages of the analysis, our scheme is compared with more classical schemes and its improved stability property is outlined. The analysis of a fully discrete (in space and time) version of the scheme is also given. Finally, some considerations about a model nonlinear problem, the Burgers–Poisson problem, are also discussed.

In this paper we analyze the explicit Runge-Kutta discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG) methods for the semilinear hyperbolic system of a correlated random walk model describing movement of animals and cells in biology. The RKDG methods use a third order explicit total-variation-diminishing Runge-Kutta (TVDRK3) time discretization and upwinding numerical fluxes. By using the energy method, under a standard CFL condition, we obtain $L^2$ stability for general solutions and a priori error estimates when the solutions are smooth enough. The theoretical results are proved for piecewise polynomials with any degree $k \geq 1$. Finally, since the solutions to this system are non-negative, we discuss a positivity-preserving limiter to preserve positivity without compromising accuracy. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate these RKDG methods.

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This paper proposes and analyzes arbitrarily high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) and finite volume methods which provably preserve the positivity of density and pressure for the ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) on general meshes. Unified auxiliary theories are built for rigorously analyzing the positivity-preserving (PP) property of numerical MHD schemes with a Harten–Lax–van Leer (HLL) type flux on polytopal meshes in any space dimension. The main challenges overcome here include establishing certain relation between the PP property and a discrete divergence of magnetic field on general meshes, and estimating proper wave speeds in the HLL flux to ensure the PP property. In the 1D case, we prove that the standard DG and finite volume methods with the proposed HLL flux are PP, under a condition accessible by a PP limiter. For the multidimensional conservative MHD system, the standard DG methods with a PP limiter are not PP in general, due to the effect of unavoidable divergence error in the magnetic field. We construct provably PP high-order DG and finite volume schemes by proper discretization of the symmetrizable MHD system, with two divergence-controlling techniques: the locally divergence-free elements and suitably discretized Godunov–Powell source term. The former technique leads to zero divergence within each cell, while the latter controls the divergence error across cell interfaces. Our analysis reveals in theory that a coupling of these two techniques is very important for positivity preservation, as they exactly contribute the discrete divergence terms which are absent in standard multidimensional DG schemes but crucial for ensuring the PP property. Several numerical tests further confirm the PP property and the effectiveness of the proposed PP schemes. Unlike the conservative MHD system, the exact smooth solutions of the symmetrizable MHD system are proved to retain the positivity even if the divergence-free condition is not satisfied. Our analysis and findings further the understanding, at both discrete and continuous levels, of the relation between the PP property and the divergence-free constraint.