arXiv subjects

G. Vacca

Publications and source records attributed to G. Vacca.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Virtual Element Method for elliptic problems on trimmed background meshes

We consider a two-dimensional piecewise $C^2$ domain that cuts through a quasi-uniform fixed polygonal background mesh, for instance made of quadrilaterals. A simple procedure based on convex hulls gives rise to a rather small number of polygonal boundary elements of various shapes, including elements with small edges and large aspect ratios; this is the computational mesh for a virtual element method (VEM), a trimmed background mesh. We classify all possible geometric configurations and study their stability and approximability properties. This entails deriving robust stabilization mechanisms and interpolation estimates for anisotropic elements and elements with small cuts, as well as a weak maximum principle for enhanced virtual elements; these contributions have intrinsic interest for VEM theory on geometric flexibility. We prove that the resulting VEM is uniformly stable in $H^1$, and also show optimal order-regularity error estimates in $H^1$ and $L^2$. Insightful numerical experiments corroborate and complement our theory. The proposed method is suitable for treating ALE formulations of problems in moving domains.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Pressure and convection robust Finite Elements for Magnetohydrodynamics

We propose and analyze two convection quasi-robust and pressure robust finite element methods for a fully nonlinear time-dependent magnetohydrodynamics problem. Both methods employ the $H_{\rm div}$ conforming BDM element coupled with an appropriate pressure space guaranteeing the exact diagram for the fluid part, and the $H^1$ conforming Lagrange element for the approximation of the magnetic fluxes, and make use of suitable DG upwind terms and CIP stabilizations to handle the fluid and magnetic convective terms. The main difference between the two approaches here proposed (labeled as three-field scheme and four field-scheme respectively) lies in the strategy adopted to enforce the divergence-free condition of the magnetic field. The three-filed scheme implements a grad-div stabilization, whereas the four-field scheme introduces a suitable Lagrange multiplier and additional stabilization terms in the formulation. The developed error estimates for the two schemes are uniform in both diffusion parameters and optimal with respect to the diffusive norm. Furthermore, in the convection dominated regime, being $k$ the degree of the method and $h$ the mesh size, we are able to prove $O(h^k)$ and $O(h^{k+1/2})$ pre-asymptotic error reduction rate for the three-field scheme and four-filed scheme respectively. A set of numerical tests support our theoretical findings.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Pressure robust SUPG-stabilized finite elements for the unsteady Navier-Stokes equation

In the present contribution we propose a novel conforming Finite Element scheme for the time-dependent Navier-Stokes equation, which is proven to be both convection quasi-robust and pressure robust. The method is built combining a "divergence-free" velocity/pressure couple (such as the Scott-Vogelius element), a Discontinuous Galerkin in time approximation, and a suitable SUPG-curl stabilization. A set of numerical tests, in accordance with the theoretical results, is included.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

A Virtual Element method for non-Newtonian fluid flows

In this paper, we design and analyze a Virtual Element discretization for the steady motion of non-Newtonian, incompressible fluids. A specific stabilization, tailored to mimic the monotonicity and boundedness properties of the continuous operator, is introduced and theoretically investigated. The proposed method has several appealing features, including the exact enforcement of the divergence free condition and the possibility of making use of fully general polygonal meshes. A complete well-posedness and convergence analysis of the proposed method is presented under mild assumptions on the non-linear laws, encompassing common examples such as the Carreau--Yasuda model. Numerical experiments validating the theoretical bounds as well as demonstrating the practical capabilities of the proposed formulation are presented.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Robust Finite Elements for linearized Magnetohydrodynamics

We introduce a pressure robust Finite Element Method for the linearized Magnetohydrodynamics equations in three space dimensions, which is provably quasi-robust also in the presence of high fluid and magnetic Reynolds numbers. The proposed scheme uses a non-conforming BDM approach with suitable DG terms for the fluid part, combined with an $H^1$-conforming choice for the magnetic fluxes. The method introduces also a specific CIP-type stabilization associated to the coupling terms. Finally, the theoretical result are further validated by numerical experiments.

math.NA↗

arXiv2023

Adaptive VEM for variable data: convergence and optimality

We design an adaptive virtual element method (AVEM) of lowest order over triangular meshes with hanging nodes in 2d, which are treated as polygons. AVEM hinges on the stabilization-free a posteriori error estimators recently derived in [8]. The crucial property, that also plays a central role in this paper, is that the stabilization term can be made arbitrarily small relative to the a posteriori error estimators upon increasing the stabilization parameter. Our AVEM concatenates two modules, GALERKIN and DATA. The former deals with piecewise constant data and is shown in [8] to be a contraction between consecutive iterates. The latter approximates general data by piecewise constants to a desired accuracy. AVEM is shown to be convergent and quasi-optimal, in terms of error decay versus degrees of freedom, for solutions and data belonging to appropriate approximation classes. Numerical experiments illustrate the interplay between these two modules and provide computational evidence of optimality.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Adaptive VEM: Stabilization-Free A Posteriori Error Analysis and Contraction Property

In the present paper we initiate the challenging task of building a mathematically sound theory for Adaptive Virtual Element Methods (AVEMs). Among the realm of polygonal meshes, we restrict our analysis to triangular meshes with hanging nodes in 2d -- the simplest meshes with a systematic refinement procedure that preserves shape regularity and optimal complexity. A major challenge in the a posteriori error analysis of AVEMs is the presence of the stabilization term, which is of the same order as the residual-type error estimator but prevents the equivalence of the latter with the energy error. Under the assumption that any chain of recursively created hanging nodes has uniformly bounded length, we show that the stabilization term can be made arbitrarily small relative to the error estimator provided the stabilization parameter of the scheme is sufficiently large. This quantitative estimate leads to stabilization-free upper and lower a posteriori bounds for the energy error. This novel and crucial property of VEMs hinges on the largest subspace of continuous piecewise linear functions and the delicate interplay between its coarser scales and the finer ones of the VEM space. An important consequence for piecewise constant data is a contraction property between consecutive loops of AVEMs, which we also prove. Our results apply to $H^1$-conforming (lowest order) VEMs of any kind, including the classical and enhanced VEMs.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

SUPG-stabilized Virtual Elements for diffusion-convection problems: a robustness analysis

The objective of this contribution is to develop a convergence analysis for SUPG-stabilized Virtual Element Methods in diffusion-convection problems that is robust also in the convection dominated regime. For the original method introduced in [Benedetto et al, CMAME 2016] we are able to show an "almost uniform" error bound (in the sense that the unique term that depends in an unfavorable way on the parameters is damped by a higher order mesh-size multiplicative factor). We also introduce a novel discretization of the convection term that allows us to develop error estimates that are fully robust in the convection dominated cases. We finally present some numerical result.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

Equilibrium analysis of an immersed rigid leaflet by the virtual element method

We study, both theoretically and numerically, the equilibrium of a hinged rigid leaflet with an attached rotational spring, immersed in a stationary incompressible fluid within a rigid channel. Through a careful investigation of the properties of the functional describing the angular momentum exerted by the fluid on the leaflet (which depends on both the leaflet angular position and its thickness), we identify sufficient conditions on the spring stiffness function for the existence (and uniqueness) of equilibrium positions. We propose a numerical technique that exploits the mesh flexibility of the Virtual Element Method (VEM). A (polygonal) computational mesh is generated by cutting a fixed background grid with the leaflet geometry, and the problem is then solved with stable VEM Stokes elements of degrees $1$ and $2$ combined with a bisection algorithm. We present a large array of numerical experiments to document the accuracy and robustness with respect to degenerate geometry of the proposed methodology.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

Sharper error estimates for Virtual Elements and a bubble-enriched version

In the present contribution we develop a sharper error analysis for the Virtual Element Method, applied to a model elliptic problem, that separates the element boundary and element interior contributions to the error. As a consequence we are able to propose a variant of the scheme that allows to take advantage of polygons with many edges (such as those composing Voronoi meshes or generated by agglomeration procedures) in order to yield a more accurate discrete solution. The theoretical results are supported by numerical experiments.

math.NA↗

arXiv2019

The Stokes complex for Virtual Elements in three dimensions

The present paper has two objectives. On one side, we develop and test numerically divergence free Virtual Elements in three dimensions, for variable ``polynomial'' order. These are the natural extension of the two-dimensional divergence free VEM elements, with some modification that allows for a better computational efficiency. We test the element's performance both for the Stokes and (diffusion dominated) Navier-Stokes equation. The second, and perhaps main, motivation is to show that our scheme, also in three dimensions, enjoys an underlying discrete Stokes complex structure. We build a pair of virtual discrete spaces based on general polytopal partitions, the first one being scalar and the second one being vector valued, such that when coupled with our velocity and pressure spaces, yield a discrete Stokes complex.

math.NA↗

arXiv2018

The $p$- and $hp$-versions of the virtual element method for elliptic eigenvalue problems

We discuss the $p$- and the $hp$-versions of the virtual element method for the approximation of eigenpairs of elliptic operators with a potential term on polygonal meshes. An application of this model is provided by the Schr\"odinger equation with a pseudo-potential term. We present in details the analysis of the p-version of the method, proving exponential convergence in the case of analytic eigenfunctions. The theoretical results are supplied with a wide set of experiments. We also show numerically that, in the case of eigenfunctions with finite Sobolev regularity, an exponential approximation of the eigenvalues in terms of the cubic root of the number of degrees of freedom can be obtained by employing $hp$-refinements. Importantly, the geometric flexibility of polygonal meshes is exploited in the construction of the $hp$-spaces.

math.NA↗

arXiv2018

The Stokes complex for Virtual Elements with application to Navier--Stokes flows

In the present paper, we investigate the underlying Stokes complex structure of the Virtual Element Method for Stokes and Navier--Stokes introduced in previous papers by the same authors, restricting our attention to the two dimensional case. We introduce a Virtual Element space $\Phi_h \subset H^2(\Omega)$ and prove that the triad $\{\Phi_h, V_h, Q_h\}$ (with $V_h$ and $Q_h$ denoting the discrete velocity and pressure spaces) is an exact Stokes complex. Furthermore, we show the computability of the associated differential operators in terms of the adopted degrees of freedom and explore also a different discretization of the convective trilinear form. The theoretical findings are supported by numerical tests.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

The Virtual Element Method with curved edges

In this paper we initiate the investigation of Virtual Elements with curved faces. We consider the case of a fixed curved boundary in two dimensions, as it happens in the approximation of problems posed on a curved domain or with a curved interface. While an approximation of the domain with polygons leads, for degree of accuracy $k \geq 2$, to a sub-optimal rate of convergence, we show (both theoretically and numerically) that the proposed curved VEM lead to an optimal rate of convergence.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

Virtual Elements for the Navier-Stokes problem on polygonal meshes

A family of Virtual Element Methods for the 2D Navier-Stokes equations is proposed and analysed. The schemes provide a discrete velocity field which is point-wise divergence-free. A rigorous error analysis is developed, showing that the methods are stable and optimally convergent. Several numerical tests are presented, confirming the theoretical predictions. A comparison with some mixed finite elements is also performed.

math.NA↗

arXiv2015

Divergence free Virtual Elements for the Stokes problem on polygonal meshes

In the present paper we develop a new family of Virtual Elements for the Stokes problem on polygonal meshes. By a proper choice of the Virtual space of velocities and the associated degrees of freedom, we can guarantee that the final discrete velocity is pointwise divergence-free, and not only in a relaxed (projected) sense, as it happens for more standard elements. Moreover, we show that the discrete problem is immediately equivalent to a reduced problem with less degrees of freedom, thus yielding a very efficient scheme. We provide a rigorous error analysis of the method and several numerical tests, including a comparison with a different Virtual Element choice.

math.NA↗

arXiv1999

Differential light scattering: probing the sonoluminescence collapse

We have developed a light scattering technique based on differential measurement and polarization (differential light scattering, DLS) capable in principle of retrieving timing information with picosecond resolution without the need for fast electronics. DLS was applied to sonoluminescence, duplicating known results (sharp turnaround, self-similar collapse); the resolution was limited by intensity noise to about 0.5 ns. Preliminary evidence indicates a smooth turnaround on a time scale of a few hundred picoseconds, and suggests the existence of subnanosecond features within a few nanoseconds of the turnaround.

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