Mayya Tokman

Mahesh Narayanamurthi, Paul Tranquilli, Adrian Sandu et al.

Exponential integrators are special time discretization methods where the traditional linear system solves used by implicit schemes are replaced with computing the action of matrix exponential-like functions on a vector. A very general formulation of exponential integrators is offered by the Exponential Propagation Iterative methods of Runge-Kutta type (EPIRK) family of schemes. The use of Jacobian approximations is an important strategy to drastically reduce the overall computational costs of implicit schemes while maintaining the quality of their solutions. This paper extends the EPIRK class to allow the use of inexact Jacobians as arguments of the matrix exponential-like functions. Specifically, we develop two new families of methods: EPIRK-W integrators that can accommodate any approximation of the Jacobian, and EPIRK-K integrators that rely on a specific Krylov-subspace projection of the exact Jacobian. Classical order conditions theories are constructed for these families. A practical EPIRK-W method of order three and an EPIRK-K method of order four are developed. Numerical experiments indicate that the methods proposed herein are computationally favorable when compared to existing exponential integrators.

Lukas Einkemmer, Mayya Tokman, John Loffeld

Exponential integrators have been introduced as an efficient alternative to explicit and implicit methods for integrating large stiff systems of differential equations. Over the past decades these methods have been studied theoretically and their performance was evaluated using a range of test problems. While the results of these investigations showed that exponential integrators can provide significant computational savings, the research on validating this hypothesis for large scale systems and understanding what classes of problems can particularly benefit from the use of the new techniques is in its initial stages. Resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling is widely used in studying large scale behavior of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. In many problems numerical solution of MHD equations is a challenging task due to the temporal stiffness of this system in the parameter regimes of interest. In this paper we evaluate the performance of exponential integrators on large MHD problems and compare them to a state-of-the-art implicit time integrator. Both the variable and constant time step exponential methods of EpiRK-type are used to simulate magnetic reconnection and the Kelvin--Helmholtz instability in plasma. Performance of these methods, which are part of the EPIC software package, is compared to the variable time step variable order BDF scheme included in the CVODE (part of SUNDIALS) library. We study performance of the methods on parallel architectures and with respect to magnitudes of important parameters such as Reynolds, Lundquist, and Prandtl numbers. We find that the exponential integrators provide superior or equal performance in most circumstances and conclude that further development of exponential methods for MHD problems is warranted and can lead to significant computational advantages for large scale stiff systems of differential equations such as MHD.

Vu Thai Luan, Mayya Tokman, Greg Rainwater

We propose two new classes of time integrators for stiff DEs: the implicit-explicit exponential (IMEXP) and the hybrid exponential methods. In contrast to the existing exponential schemes, the new methods offer significant computational advantages when used with preconditioners. Any preconditioner can be used with any of these new schemes. This leads to a broader applicability of exponential methods. The proof of stability and convergence of these integrators and numerical demonstration of their efficiency are presented.

Greg Rainwater, Mayya Tokman

The structural flexibility of the exponential propagation iterative methods of Runge-Kutta type (EPIRK) enables construction of particularly efficient exponential time integrators. While the EPIRK methods have been shown to perform well on stiff problems, all of the schemes proposed up to now have been derived using classical order conditions. In this paper we extend the stiff order conditions and the convergence theory developed for the exponential Rosenbrock methods to the EPIRK integrators. We derive stiff order conditions for the EPIRK methods and develop algorithms to solve them to obtain specific schemes. Moreover, we propose a new approach to constructing particularly efficient EPIRK integrators that are optimized to work with an adaptive Krylov algorithm. We use a set of numerical examples to illustrate the computational advantages that the newly constructed EPIRK methods offer compared to previously proposed exponential integrators.