Finite Element Exterior Calculus

Computational methods to approximate the solution of differential equations play a crucial role in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology. The key processes that govern the physical world?wave propagation, thermodynamics, fluid flow, solid deformation, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, general relativity, and many more?are described by differential equations. We depend on numerical methods for the ability to simulate, explore, predict, and control systems involving these processes. The finite element exterior calculus, or FEEC, is a powerful new theoretical approach to the design and understanding of numerical methods to solve partial differential equations (PDEs). The methods derived with FEEC preserve crucial geometric and topological structures underlying the equations and are among the most successful examples of structure-preserving methods in numerical PDEs. This volume aims to help numerical analysts master the fundamentals of FEEC, including the geometrical and functional analysis preliminaries, quickly and in one place. It is also accessible to mathematicians and students of mathematics from areas other than numerical analysis who are interested in understanding how techniques from geometry and topology play a role in numerical PDEs.

Computational methods to approximate the solution of differential equations play a crucial role in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology. The key processes that govern the physical world—wave propagation, thermodynamics, fluid flow, solid deformation, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, general relativity, and many more—are described by differential equations. We depend on numerical methods for the ability to simulate, explore, predict, and control systems involving these processes. The finite element exterior calculus, or FEEC, is a powerful new theoretical approach to the design and understanding of numerical methods to solve partial differential equations (PDEs). The methods derived with FEEC preserve crucial geometric and topological structures underlying the equations and are among the most successful examples of structure-preserving methods in numerical PDEs. This volume aims to help numerical analysts master the fundamentals of FEEC, including the geometrical and functional analysis preliminaries, quickly and in one place. It is also accessible to mathematicians and students of mathematics from areas other than numerical analysis who are interested in understanding how techniques from geometry and topology play a role in numerical PDEs.

Presenting topics that have not previously been contained in a single volume, this book offers an up-to-date review of computational methods in electromagnetism, with a focus on recent results in the numerical simulation of real-life electromagnetic problems and on theoretical results that are useful in devising and analyzing approximation algorithms. Based on four courses delivered in Cetraro in June 2014, the material covered includes the spatial discretization of Maxwell’s equations in a bounded domain, the numerical approximation of the eddy current model in harmonic regime, the time domain integral equation method (with an emphasis on the electric-field integral equation) and an overview of qualitative methods for inverse electromagnetic scattering problems. Assuming some knowledge of the variational formulation of PDEs and of finite element/boundary element methods, the book is suitable for PhD students and researchers interested in numerical approximation of partial differential equations and scientific computing.

Since the middle of the last century, computing power has increased sufficiently that the direct numerical approximation of Maxwell's equations is now an increasingly important tool in science and engineering. Parallel to the increasing use of numerical methods in computational electromagnetism there has also been considerable progress in the mathematical understanding of the properties of Maxwell's equations relevant to numerical analysis. The aim of this book is to provide an up to date and sound theoretical foundation for finite element methods in computational electromagnetism. The emphasis is on finite element methods for scattering problems that involve the solution of Maxwell's equations on infinite domains. Suitable variational formulations are developed and justified mathematically. An error analysis of edge finite element methods that are particularly well suited to Maxwell's equations is the main focus of the book. The methods are justified for Lipschitz polyhedral domains that can cause strong singularities in the solution. The book finishes with a short introduction to inverse problems in electromagnetism.

An accessible introduction to the finite element method for solving numeric problems, this volume offers the keys to an important technique in computational mathematics. Suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses, it outlines clear connections with applications and considers numerous examples from a variety of science- and engineering-related specialties.This text encompasses all varieties of the basic linear partial differential equations, including elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic problems, as well as stationary and time-dependent problems. Additional topics include finite element methods for integral equations, an introduction to nonlinear problems, and considerations of unique developments of finite element techniques related to parabolic problems, including methods for automatic time step control. The relevant mathematics are expressed in non-technical terms whenever possible, in the interests of keeping the treatment accessible to a majority of students.

This book gives an introduction to the finite element method as a general computational method for solving partial differential equations approximately. Our approach is mathematical in nature with a strong focus on the underlying mathematical principles, such as approximation properties of piecewise polynomial spaces, and variational formulations of partial differential equations, but with a minimum level of advanced mathematical machinery from functional analysis and partial differential equations. In principle, the material should be accessible to students with only knowledge of calculus of several variables, basic partial differential equations, and linear algebra, as the necessary concepts from more advanced analysis are introduced when needed. Throughout the text we emphasize implementation of the involved algorithms, and have therefore mixed mathematical theory with concrete computer code using the numerical software MATLAB is and its PDE-Toolbox. We have also had the ambition to cover some of the most important applications of finite elements and the basic finite element methods developed for those applications, including diffusion and transport phenomena, solid and fluid mechanics, and also electromagnetics.​

This book is a tutorial written by researchers and developers behind the FEniCS Project and explores an advanced, expressive approach to the development of mathematical software. The presentation spans mathematical background, software design and the use of FEniCS in applications. Theoretical aspects are complemented with computer code which is available as free/open source software. The book begins with a special introductory tutorial for beginners. Following are chapters in Part I addressing fundamental aspects of the approach to automating the creation of finite element solvers. Chapters in Part II address the design and implementation of the FEnicS software. Chapters in Part III present the application of FEniCS to a wide range of applications, including fluid flow, solid mechanics, electromagnetics and geophysics.

This informal introduction to computational fluid dynamics and practical guide to numerical simulation of transport phenomena covers the derivation of the governing equations, construction of finite element approximations, and qualitative properties of numerical solutions, among other topics. To make the book accessible to readers with diverse interests and backgrounds, the authors begin at a basic level and advance to numerical tools for increasingly difficult flow problems, emphasizing practical implementation rather than mathematical theory.?Finite Element Methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics: A Practical Guide?explains the basics of the finite element method (FEM) in the context of simple model problems, illustrated by numerical examples. It comprehensively reviews stabilization techniques for convection-dominated transport problems, introducing the reader to streamline diffusion methods, Petrov?Galerkin approximations, Taylor?Galerkin schemes, flux-corrected transport algorithms, and other nonlinear high-resolution schemes, and covers Petrov?Galerkin stabilization, classical projection schemes, Schur complement solvers, and the implementation of the k-epsilon turbulence model in its presentation of the FEM for incompressible flow problem. The book also describes the open-source finite element library ELMER, which is recommended as a software development kit for advanced applications in an online component.?