Positivity-preserving discontinuous Galerkin schemes for linear Vlasov-Boltzmann transport equations

Abstract

We develop a high-order positivity-preserving discontinuous Galerkin (DG) scheme for linear Vlasov-Boltzmann transport equations (Vlasov-BTE) under the action of quadratically confined electrostatic potentials. The solutions of such BTEs are positive probability distribution functions and it is very challenging to have a mass-conservative, high-order accurate scheme that preserves positivity of the numerical solutions in high dimensions. Our work extends the maximum-principle-satisfying scheme for scalar conservation laws in a recent work by X. Zhang and C.-W. Shu to include the linear Boltzmann collision term. The DG schemes we developed conserve mass and preserve the positivity of the solution without sacrificing accuracy. A discussion of the standard semi-discrete DG schemes for the BTE are included as a foundation for the stability and error estimates for this new scheme. Numerical results of the relaxation models are provided to validate the method. © 2011 American Mathematical Society.