Numerical partial differential equations

Compare discretizations of distributed systems using consistency, stability, conservation, adaptivity, and solver costs.

10 published lessons1 module300 min of guided study
  1. 01
    Numerical partial differential equationsadvanced · 10 lessons

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Numerical partial differential equations

Compare discretizations of distributed systems using consistency, stability, conservation, adaptivity, and solver costs.

  1. 01

    The method of lines and semidiscrete systems

    Separate spatial approximation from time integration and measure stability in the appropriate discrete norm.

    30 min
  2. 02

    Finite-difference stencils and numerical dispersion

    Read a stencil as a Fourier multiplier and separate phase error from amplitude error.

    30 min
  3. 03

    Von Neumann stability and CFL conditions

    Analyze amplification on periodic constant-coefficient grids and keep geometric CFL necessity separate from sufficient stability.

    30 min
  4. 04

    Finite-volume conservation and numerical fluxes

    Build updates from shared interface fluxes and separate conservation from entropy and positivity.

    30 min
  5. 05

    Riemann solvers and high-resolution reconstruction

    Combine entropy-selected interface states with slope-limited reconstruction while tracking spatial and temporal accuracy separately.

    30 min
  6. 06

    Spectral methods and aliasing

    Track DFT normalization, resolvable modes and nonlinear frequency folding before claiming high-order accuracy.

    30 min
  7. 07

    Discontinuous Galerkin fluxes and stability

    Join elementwise weak equations through oriented traces and derive a sign-consistent semidiscrete energy balance.

    30 min
  8. 08

    Operator splitting and splitting error

    Approximate a combined evolution by ordered subflows and measure the noncommutativity that remains.

    30 min
  9. 09

    Multigrid and smoothing properties

    Combine high-frequency damping with coarse correction rather than mistaking either operation for a complete solver.

    30 min
  10. 10

    A posteriori error estimation and adaptive meshes

    Estimate discretization error with element residuals and flux jumps while preserving the assumptions behind reliability.

    30 min
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