On the Reynolds-number scaling of Poisson solver complexity

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Trias, F. Xavier, Alsalti-Baldellou, Àdel, Oliva, Assensi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Trias, F. Xavier
Alsalti-Baldellou, Àdel
Oliva, Assensi
author_facet Trias, F. Xavier
Alsalti-Baldellou, Àdel
Oliva, Assensi
contents We aim to answer the following question: is the complexity of numerically solving the Poisson equation increasing or decreasing for very large simulations of incompressible flows? Physical and numerical arguments are combined to derive power-law scalings at very high Reynolds numbers. A theoretical convergence analysis for both Jacobi and multigrid solvers defines a two-dimensional phase space divided into two regions depending on whether the number of solver iterations tends to decrease or increase with the Reynolds number. Numerical results indicate that, for Navier-Stokes turbulence, the complexity decreases with increasing Reynolds number, whereas for the one-dimensional Burgers equation it follows the opposite trend. The proposed theoretical framework thus provides a unified perspective on how solver convergence scales with the Reynolds number and offers valuable guidance for the development of next-generation preconditioning and multigrid strategies for extreme-scale simulations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_22644
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the Reynolds-number scaling of Poisson solver complexity
Trias, F. Xavier
Alsalti-Baldellou, Àdel
Oliva, Assensi
Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
Computational Physics
We aim to answer the following question: is the complexity of numerically solving the Poisson equation increasing or decreasing for very large simulations of incompressible flows? Physical and numerical arguments are combined to derive power-law scalings at very high Reynolds numbers. A theoretical convergence analysis for both Jacobi and multigrid solvers defines a two-dimensional phase space divided into two regions depending on whether the number of solver iterations tends to decrease or increase with the Reynolds number. Numerical results indicate that, for Navier-Stokes turbulence, the complexity decreases with increasing Reynolds number, whereas for the one-dimensional Burgers equation it follows the opposite trend. The proposed theoretical framework thus provides a unified perspective on how solver convergence scales with the Reynolds number and offers valuable guidance for the development of next-generation preconditioning and multigrid strategies for extreme-scale simulations.
title On the Reynolds-number scaling of Poisson solver complexity
topic Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22644