A fast algebraic multigrid solver and accurate discretization for highly anisotropic heat flux I: open field lines

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wimmer, Golo A., Southworth, Ben S., Gregory, Thomas J., Tang, Xian-Zhu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911796642709504
author Wimmer, Golo A.
Southworth, Ben S.
Gregory, Thomas J.
Tang, Xian-Zhu
author_facet Wimmer, Golo A.
Southworth, Ben S.
Gregory, Thomas J.
Tang, Xian-Zhu
contents We present a novel solver technique for the anisotropic heat flux equation, aimed at the high level of anisotropy seen in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas. Such problems pose two major challenges: (i) discretization accuracy and (ii) efficient implicit linear solvers. We simultaneously address each of these challenges by constructing a new finite element discretization with excellent accuracy properties, tailored to a novel solver approach based on algebraic multigrid (AMG) methods designed for advective operators. We pose the problem in a mixed formulation, introducing the directional temperature gradient as an auxiliary variable. The temperature and auxiliary fields are discretized in a scalar discontinuous Galerkin space with upwinding principles used for discretizations of advection. We demonstrate the proposed discretization's superior accuracy over other discretizations of anisotropic heat flux, achieving error $1000\times$ smaller for anisotropy ratio of $10^9$, for $closed$ $field$ $lines$. The block matrix system is reordered and solved in an approach where the two advection operators are inverted using AMG solvers based on approximate ideal restriction (AIR), which is particularly efficient for upwind discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of advection. To ensure that the advection operators are non-singular, in this paper we restrict ourselves to considering open (acyclic) magnetic field lines for the linear solvers. We demonstrate fast convergence of the proposed iterative solver in highly anisotropic regimes where other diffusion-based AMG methods fail.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2301_13351
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A fast algebraic multigrid solver and accurate discretization for highly anisotropic heat flux I: open field lines
Wimmer, Golo A.
Southworth, Ben S.
Gregory, Thomas J.
Tang, Xian-Zhu
Numerical Analysis
We present a novel solver technique for the anisotropic heat flux equation, aimed at the high level of anisotropy seen in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas. Such problems pose two major challenges: (i) discretization accuracy and (ii) efficient implicit linear solvers. We simultaneously address each of these challenges by constructing a new finite element discretization with excellent accuracy properties, tailored to a novel solver approach based on algebraic multigrid (AMG) methods designed for advective operators. We pose the problem in a mixed formulation, introducing the directional temperature gradient as an auxiliary variable. The temperature and auxiliary fields are discretized in a scalar discontinuous Galerkin space with upwinding principles used for discretizations of advection. We demonstrate the proposed discretization's superior accuracy over other discretizations of anisotropic heat flux, achieving error $1000\times$ smaller for anisotropy ratio of $10^9$, for $closed$ $field$ $lines$. The block matrix system is reordered and solved in an approach where the two advection operators are inverted using AMG solvers based on approximate ideal restriction (AIR), which is particularly efficient for upwind discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of advection. To ensure that the advection operators are non-singular, in this paper we restrict ourselves to considering open (acyclic) magnetic field lines for the linear solvers. We demonstrate fast convergence of the proposed iterative solver in highly anisotropic regimes where other diffusion-based AMG methods fail.
title A fast algebraic multigrid solver and accurate discretization for highly anisotropic heat flux I: open field lines
topic Numerical Analysis
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.13351