Clément Cancès

Clément Cancès, Cindy Guichard

We present a numerical method for approximating the solutions of degenerate parabolic equations with a formal gradient flow structure. The numerical method we propose preserves at the discrete level the formal gradient flow structure, allowing the use of some nonlinear test functions in the analysis. The existence of a solution to and the convergence of the scheme are proved under very general assumptions on the continuous problem (nonlinearities, anisotropy, heterogeneity) and on the mesh. Moreover, we provide numerical evidences of the efficiency and of the robustness of our approach.

Konstantin Brenner, Clément Cancès

The nonlinear systems obtained by discretizing degenerate parabolic equations may be hard to solve, especially with Newton's method. In this paper, we apply to Richards equation a strategy that consists in defining a new primary unknown for the continuous equation in order to stabilize Newton's method by parametrizing the graph linking the pressure and the saturation. The resulting form of Richards equation is then discretized thanks to a monotone Finite Volume scheme. We prove the well-posedness of the numerical scheme. Then we show under appropriate non-degeneracy conditions on the parametrization that Newtonâs method converges locally and quadratically. Finally, we provide numerical evidences of the efficiency of our approach.

Clément Cancès, Hélène Mathis, Nicolas Seguin

We study the finite volume approximation of strong solutions to nonlinear systems of conservation laws. We focus on time-explicit schemes on unstructured meshes, with entropy satisfying numerical fluxes. The numerical entropy dissipation is quantified at each interface of the mesh, which enables to prove a weak--BV estimate for the numerical approximation under a strengthen CFL condition. Then we derive error estimates in the multidimensional case, using the relative entropy between the strong solution and its finite volume approximation. The error terms are carefully studied, leading to a classical $h^1/4$ estimate in $L^2$ under this strengthen CFL condition.

Clément Cancès, Thomas O. Gallouët, Maxime Laborde et al.

The Wasserstein gradient flow structure of the PDE system governing multiphase flows in porous media was recently highlighted in [C. Cancès, T. O. Gallouët, and L. Monsaingeon, {\it Anal. PDE} 10(8):1845--1876, 2017]. The model can thus be approximated by means of the minimizing movement (or JKO) scheme, that we solve thanks to the ALG2-JKO scheme proposed in [J.-D. Benamou, G. Carlier, and M. Laborde, {\it ESAIM Proc. Surveys}, 57:1--17, 2016]. The numerical results are compared to a classical upstream mobility Finite Volume scheme, for which strong stability properties can be established.

Clément Cancès, Claire Chainais-Hillairet, Anita Gerstenmayer et al.

An implicit Euler finite-volume scheme for a degenerate cross-diffusion system describing the ion transport through biological membranes is analyzed. The strongly coupled equations for the ion concentrations include drift terms involving the electric potential, which is coupled to the concentrations through the Poisson equation. The cross-diffusion system possesses a formal gradient-flow structure revealing nonstandard degen-eracies, which lead to considerable mathematical difficulties. The finite-volume scheme is based on two-point flux approximations with "double" upwind mobilities. It preserves the structure of the continuous model like nonnegativity, upper bounds, and entropy dis-sipation. The degeneracy is overcome by proving a new discrete Aubin-Lions lemma of "degenerate" type. Under suitable assumptions, the existence and uniqueness of bounded discrete solutions, a discrete entropy inequality, and the convergence of the scheme is proved. Numerical simulations of a calcium-selective ion channel in two space dimensions indicate that the numerical scheme is of first order.

Clément Cancès, Claire Chainais-Hillairet, Stella Krell

We propose a nonlinear Discrete Duality Finite Volume scheme to approximate the solutions of drift diffusion equations. The scheme is built to preserve at the discrete level even on severely distorted meshes the energy / energy dissipation relation. This relation is of paramount importance to capture the long-time behavior of the problem in an accurate way. To enforce it, the linear convection diffusion equation is rewritten in a nonlinear form before being discretized. We establish the existence of positive solutions to the scheme. Based on compactness arguments, the convergence of the approximate solution towards a weak solution is established. Finally, we provide numerical evidences of the good behavior of the scheme when the discretization parameters tend to 0 and when time goes to infinity.

Boris Andreianov, Clément Cancès, Ayman Moussa

We propose a discrete functional analysis result suitable for proving compactness in the framework of fully discrete approximations of strongly degenerate parabolic problems. It is based on the original exploitation of a result related to compensated compactness rather than on a classical estimate on the space and time translates in the spirit of Simon (Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. 1987). Our approach allows to handle various numerical discretizations both in the space variables and in the time variable. In particular, we can cope quite easily with variable time steps and with multistep time differentiation methods like, e.g., the backward differentiation formula of order 2 (BDF2) scheme. We illustrate our approach by proving the convergence of a two-point flux Finite Volume in space and BDF2 in time approximation of the porous medium equation.