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Level Set Equations on Surfaces via the Closest Point Method

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Abstract

Level set methods have been used in a great number of applications in ℝ2 and ℝ3 and it is natural to consider extending some of these methods to problems defined on surfaces embedded in ℝ3 or higher dimensions. In this paper we consider the treatment of level set equations on surfaces via a recent technique for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) on surfaces, the Closest Point Method (Ruuth and Merriman, J. Comput. Phys. 227(3):1943–1961, [2008]). Our main modification is to introduce a Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (WENO) interpolation step into the Closest Point Method. This, in combination with standard WENO for Hamilton–Jacobi equations, gives high-order results (up to fifth-order) on a variety of smooth test problems including passive transport, normal flow and redistancing. The algorithms we propose are straightforward modifications of standard codes, are carried out in the embedding space in a well-defined band around the surface and retain the robustness of the level set method with respect to the self-intersection of interfaces. Numerous examples are provided to illustrate the flexibility of the method with respect to geometry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Colin B. Macdonald & Steven J. Ruuth

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  1. Colin B. Macdonald
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  2. Steven J. Ruuth
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Correspondence to Steven J. Ruuth.

Additional information

The work of C.B. Macdonald was partially supported by a grant from NSERC Canada and a scholarship from the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS).

The work of S.J. Ruuth was partially supported by a grant from NSERC Canada.

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Macdonald, C.B., Ruuth, S.J. Level Set Equations on Surfaces via the Closest Point Method. J Sci Comput 35, 219–240 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10915-008-9196-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10915-008-9196-6

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