Numerical Methods For Nonlinear Variational Problems

This book describes the mathematical background and reviews the techniques for solving problems, including those that require large computations such as transonic flows for compressible fluids and the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluids. Finite element approximations and non-linear relaxation, and nonlinear least square methods are all covered in detail, as are many applications. This volume is a classic in a long-awaited softcover re-edition.

When Herb Keller suggested, more than two years ago, that we update our lectures held at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1977, and then have it published in the collection Springer Series in Computational Physics, we thought, at first, that it would be an easy task. Actually, we realized very quickly that it would be more complicated than what it seemed at first glance, for several reasons: 1. The first version of Numerical Methods for Nonlinear Variational Problems was, in fact, part of a set of monographs on numerical mat- matics published, in a short span of time, by the Tata Institute of Fun- mental Research in its well-known series Lectures on Mathematics and Physics; as might be expected, the first version systematically used the material of the above monographs, this being particularly true for Lectures on the Finite Element Method by P. G. Ciarlet and Lectures on Optimization—Theory and Algorithms by J. Cea. This second version had to be more self-contained. This necessity led to some minor additions in Chapters I-IV of the original version, and to the introduction of a chapter (namely, Chapter Y of this book) on relaxation methods, since these methods play an important role in various parts of this book.

This textbook teaches finite element methods from a computational point of view. It focuses on how to develop flexible computer programs with Python, a programming language in which a combination of symbolic and numerical tools is used to achieve an explicit and practical derivation of finite element algorithms. The finite element library FEniCS is used throughout the book, but the content is provided in sufficient detail to ensure that students with less mathematical background or mixed programming-language experience will equally benefit. All program examples are available on the Internet.

Variational Methods for the Numerical Solution of Nonlinear Elliptic Problems?addresses computational methods that have proven efficient for the solution of a large variety of nonlinear elliptic problems. These methods can be applied to many problems in science and engineering, but this book focuses on their application to problems in continuum mechanics and physics. This book differs from others on the topic by presenting examples of the power and versatility of operator-splitting methods; providing a detailed introduction to alternating direction methods of multipliers and their applicability to the solution of nonlinear (possibly nonsmooth) problems from science and engineering; and showing that nonlinear least-squares methods, combined with operator-splitting and conjugate gradient algorithms, provide efficient tools for the solution of highly nonlinear problems. The book provides useful insights suitable for advanced graduate students, faculty, and researchers in applied and computational mathematics as well as research engineers, mathematical physicists, and systems engineers.

The description of many interesting phenomena in science and engineering leads to infinite-dimensional minimization or evolution problems that define nonlinear partial differential equations. While the development and analysis of numerical methods for linear partial differential equations is nearly complete, only few results are available in the case of nonlinear equations. This monograph devises numerical methods for nonlinear model problems arising in the mathematical description of phase transitions, large bending problems, image processing, and inelastic material behavior. For each of these problems the underlying mathematical model is discussed, the essential analytical properties are explained, and the proposed numerical method is rigorously analyzed. The practicality of the algorithms is illustrated by means of short implementations.