Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods combine features in finite element methods (weak formulation, finite dimensional solution and test function spaces) and in finite volume methods (numerical fluxes, nonlinear limiters) and are particularly suitable for simulating convection dominated problems, such as linear and nonlinear waves including shock waves. In this article we will give a brief survey of DG methods, emphasizing their applications in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). We will discuss essential ingredients and properties of DG methods, and will also give a few examples of recent developments of DG methods which have facilitated their applications in CFD.

We develop a general theory of canonical bases for quantum symmetric pairs (U, U^i) with parameters of arbitrary finite type. We construct new canonical bases for the simple integrable U-modules and their tensor products regarded as U^i-modules. We also construct a canonical basis for the modified form of the i-quantum group U^i. To that end, we establish several new structural results on quantum symmetric pairs, such as bilinear forms, braid group actions, integral forms, Levi subalgebras (of real rank one), and integrality of the intertwiners.

We introduce and analyze lower ($Ricci$) curvature bounds $ \underline{{Curv}} {\left( {M,d,m} \right)} $ ⩾$K$for metric measure spaces $ {\left( {M,d,m} \right)} $ . Our definition is based on convexity properties of the relative entropy $ Ent{\left( { \cdot \left| m \right.} \right)} $ regarded as a function on the$L$_{2}-Wasserstein space of probability measures on the metric space $ {\left( {M,d} \right)} $ . Among others, we show that $ \underline{{Curv}} {\left( {M,d,m} \right)} $ ⩾$K$implies estimates for the volume growth of concentric balls. For Riemannian manifolds, $ \underline{{Curv}} {\left( {M,d,m} \right)} $ ⩾$K$if and only if $ Ric_{M} {\left( {\xi ,\xi } \right)} $ ⩾$K$ $ {\left| \xi \right|}^{2} $ for all $ \xi \in TM $ .

We develop mathematical models describing the evolution of stochastic age-structured populations. After reviewing existing approaches, we formulate a complete kinetic framework for age-structured interacting populations undergoing birth, death and fission processes in spatially dependent environments. We define the full probability density for the population-size age chart and find results under specific conditions. Connections with more classical models are also explicitly derived. In particular, we show that factorial moments for non-interacting processes are described by a natural generalization of the McKendrick-von Foerster equation, which describes mean-field deterministic behavior. Our approach utilizes mixed-type, multidimensional probability distributions similar to those employed in the study of gas kinetics and with terms that satisfy BBGKY-like equation hierarchies.

We define quasi-local conserved quantities in general relativity by using the optimal isometric embedding in Wang and Yau (Commun Math Phys 288(3):919–942, 2009) to transplant Killing fields in the Minkowski spacetime back to the 2-surface of interest in a physical spacetime. To each optimal isometric embedding, a dual element of the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group is assigned. Quasi-local angular momentum and quasi-local center of mass correspond to pairing this element with rotation Killing fields and boost Killing fields, respectively. They obey classical transformation laws under the action of the Poincaré group. We further justify these definitions by considering their limits as the total angular momentum and the total center of mass of an isolated system. These expressions were derived from the Hamilton–Jacobi analysis of the gravitational action and thus satisfy conservation laws. As a result, we obtained an invariant total angular momentum theorem in the Kerr spacetime. For a vacuum asymptotically flat initial data set of order 1, it is shown that the limits are always finite without any extra assumptions. We also study these total conserved quantities on a family of asymptotically flat initial data sets evolving by the vacuum Einstein evolution equation. It is shown that the total angular momentum is conserved under the evolution. For the total center of mass, the classical dynamical formula relating the center of mass, energy, and linear momentum is recovered, in the nonlinear context of initial data sets evolving by the vacuum Einstein evolution equation. The definition of quasi-local angular momentum provides an answer to the second problem in classical general relativity on Penrose’s list (Proc R Soc Lond Ser A 381(1780):53–63, 1982).