The nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation (nPBE) is a fundamental partial differential equation (PDE) in electrostatics, widely used in computational biology and chemistry to model potential fields in solvents or plasmas. In this paper, we consider the problem of quantifying the statistical uncertainty of the stochastic nPBE solution under random variations in its coefficients. We establish the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the complexified nPBE using a contraction mapping argument, as conventional convex optimization techniques for the real-valued nPBE do not naturally extend to the complex setting. Using the existence and uniqueness result, we demonstrate that the solutions admit analytic extensions over a well-defined region in the complex hyperplane The analyticity makes the computation for statistics of real-valued quantities of interest amenable to numerical techniques such as sparse grids. Sparse grids are applied to uniformly approximate analytic functions with algebraic to sub-exponential error with respect to the number of knots, thus allowing for efficient approximations of high-dimensional integrals. Our numerical experiments confirm the predicted error behavior.
The utilization of nonlinear differential equations has resulted in remarkable progress across various scientific domains, including physics, biology, ecology, and quantum mechanics. Nonetheless, obtaining multiple solutions for nonlinear differential equations can pose considerable challenges, particularly when it is difficult to find suitable initial guesses. To address this issue, we propose a pioneering approach known as the Companion-Based Multilevel Finite Element Method (CBMFEM). This novel technique efficiently and accurately generates multiple initial guesses for solving nonlinear elliptic semi-linear equations containing polynomial nonlinear terms through the use of finite element methods with conforming elements. As a theoretical foundation of CBMFEM, we present an appropriate and new concept of the isolated solution to the nonlinear elliptic equations with multiple solutions. The newly introduced concept is used to establish the inf-sup condition for the linearized equation around the isolated solution. Furthermore, it is crucially used to derive a theoretical error analysis of finite element methods for nonlinear elliptic equations with multiple solutions. A number of numerical results obtained using CBMFEM are then presented and compared with a traditional method. These not only show the CBMFEM's superiority, but also support our theoretical analysis. Additionally, these results showcase the effectiveness and potential of our proposed method in tackling the challenges associated with multiple solutions in nonlinear differential equations with different types of boundary conditions.
In this paper, we propose new basis functions defined on curved sides or faces of curvilinear elements (polygons or polyhedrons with curved sides or faces) for the weak Galerkin finite element method. Those basis functions are constructed by collecting linearly independent traces of polynomials on the curved sides/faces. We then analyze the modified weak Galerkin method for the elliptic equation and the interface problem on curvilinear polytopal meshes with Lipschitz continuous edges or faces. The method is designed to deal with less smooth complex boundaries or interfaces. Optimal convergence rates for H1 and L2 errors are obtained, and arbitrary high orders can be achieved for sufficiently smooth solutions. The numerical algorithm is discussed and tests are provided to verify theoretical findings.
Three constitutive laws, that is the Skalak, neo-Hookean and Yeoh laws, commonly employed for describing the erythrocyte membrane mechanics are theoretically analyzed and numerically investigated to assess their accuracy for capturing erythrocyte deformation characteristics and morphology. Particular emphasis is given to the nonlinear deformation regime, where it is known that the discrepancies between constitutive laws are most prominent. Hence, the experiments of optical tweezers and micropipette aspiration are considered here, for which relationships between the individual shear elastic moduli of the constitutive laws can also be established through analysis of the tension-deformation relationship. All constitutive laws were found to adequately predict the axial and transverse deformations of a red blood cell subjected to stretching with optical tweezers for a constant shear elastic modulus value. As opposed to Skalak law, the neo-Hookean and Yeoh laws replicated the erythrocyte membrane folding, that has been experimentally observed, with the trade-off of sustaining significant area variations. For the micropipette aspiration, the suction pressure-aspiration length relationship could be excellently predicted for a fixed shear elastic modulus value only when Yeoh law was considered. Importantly, the neo-Hookean and Yeoh laws reproduced the membrane wrinkling at suction pressures close to those experimentally measured. None of the constitutive laws suffered from membrane area compressibility in the micropipette aspiration case.
In this paper, we shall present a weak virtual element method for the standard three field poroelasticity problem on polytopal meshes. The flux velocity and pressure are approximated by the low order H (div) virtual element and the piecewise constant, while the elastic displacement is discretized by the H (div) virtual element with some tangential polynomials on element boundaries. A fully discrete scheme is then given by choosing the backward Euler for the time discretization. With some assumptions on the exact solutions, we prove that the convergence order is of order 1 with respect to the meshsize and the time step, and the hidden constants are independent of the parameters of the problems. Some numerical experiments are given to verify the results.
