Collaborative Research: Geometric Time Integrators for Mechanical Dynamical Systems

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Time integrators are crucial computational tools for studying nonlinear dynamical systems. Numerous time stepping methods have been developed over the years, many of which are now available in off-the-shelf solvers. However energy drifts and numerical dissipation problems present even in highly accurate algorithms still routinely plague engineering applications. Geometric time integrators have been recently proven greatly useful to elucidate and fix these issues in solid mechanics. Yet these contributions have not carried over to the Eulerian setting, where they could impact both the understanding and the reliability of time integrators for computational fluid dynamics. The goal of this research project is thus to develop novel, geometrically-based Eulerian time integrators for the class of problems whose dynamics is described by an action principle, possibly including dissipation and forcing---which encompasses the canonical Euler and Navier-Stokes equations, as well as many other models. Eulerian discretizations of the Hamilton-Pontryagin principle will be explored, and combined with mathematical and numerical tools such as Discrete Exterior Calculus, the semigroup of positive doubly-stochastic matrices, and implicit functions. Resulting integrators are expected, just like in the Lagrangian setting, to respect the structure of the physics, i.e., to introduce no artificial numerical loss of crucial physical quantities such as energy or circulation.The proposed research activities aim at developing an infrastructure for predictive and high-order accurate simulations of fluid-mechanical systems that combine the power of modern applied geometry with modern computational mechanics. In particular, it promises the introduction of novel variational fluid simulation algorithms: this innovative computational approach relies on a multidisciplinary effort drawing upon techniques from geometric mechanics, discrete geometry, numerical analysis, and graphics, thus promising a broad theoretical and practical impact. The development of such variational integrators from a unified geometric standpoint represents a stepping stone for our long-term goal of solving complex physical phenomena such as a flowing dress, a swimming fish or splashing water, the simulation of which requires considerable improvement of the current state of the art to become commonplace. The research experience acquired during this project is to be disseminated to a wide range of audiences through publishing in mathematics, engineering and computer science journals, books, and conferences, as well as on our web sites, in summer schools, workshops, and other educational activities. Outreach efforts at our three institutions include the recruitment of students from underrepresented groups to help with this research project, leveraging existing efforts for enhancing the participation of women and minorities in scientific research.