Pointwise error estimates for a singularly perturbed time-dependent semilinear reaction-diffusion problem

Natalia Kopteva, Simona Blanca Savescu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

An initial boundary-value problem for a semilinear reaction-diffusion equation is considered. Its diffusion parameter ε2 is arbitrarily small, which induces initial and boundary layers. It is shown that the conventional implicit method might produce incorrect computed solutions on uniform meshes. Therefore we propose a stabilized method that yields a unique qualitatively correct solution on any mesh. Constructing discrete upper and lower solutions, we prove existence and investigate the accuracy of discrete solutions on layer-adapted meshes of Bakhvalov and Shishkin types. It is established that the two considered methods enjoy second-order convergence in space and first-order convergence in time (with, in the case of the Shishkin mesh, a logarithmic factor) in the maximum norm, if ε ≤ C(N-1 + M-1/2), where N and M are the numbers of mesh intervals in the space and time directions, respectively. Numerical results are presented that support the theoretical conclusions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)616-639
Number of pages24
JournalIMA Journal of Numerical Analysis
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2011

Keywords

  • Bakhvalov mesh
  • maximum norm error estimate
  • semilinear reaction-diffusion
  • Shishkin mesh
  • singular perturbation
  • upper and lower solutions

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Pointwise error estimates for a singularly perturbed time-dependent semilinear reaction-diffusion problem'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this