We consider the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid through a rigid homogeneous porous medium. The permeability of the medium depends on the pressure, so that the model is nonlinear. We propose a finite element discretization of this problem and, in the case where the dependence on the pressure is bounded from above and below, we prove its convergence to the solution and propose an algorithm to solve the discrete system. In the case where the dependence on the pressure is exponential, we propose a splitting scheme which involves solving two linear systems, but parts of the analysis of this method are still heuristic. Numerical tests are presented, which illustrate the introduced methods.


We consider the Pn model to approximate the time dependent transport equation in one dimension of space. In a diffusive regime, the solution of this system is solution of a diffusion equation. We are looking for a numerical scheme having the diffusion limit property: in a diffusive regime, it has to give the solution of the limiting diffusion equation on a mesh at the diffusion scale. The numerical scheme proposed is an extension of the Godunov type scheme proposed by Gosse to solve the P1 model without absorption term. It requires the computation of the solution of the steady state Pn equations. This is made by one Monte-Carlo simulation performed outside the time loop. Using formal expansions with respect to a small parameter representing the inverse of the number of mean free path in each cell, the resulting scheme is proved to have the diffusion limit. In order to avoid the CFL constraint on the time step, we give an implicit version of the scheme which preserves the positivity of the zeroth moment.

While alternans in a single cardiac cell appears through a simple period-doubling bifurcation, in extended tissue the exact nature of the bifurcation is unclear. In particular, the phase of alternans can exhibit wave-like spatial dependence, either stationary or travelling, which is known as discordant alternans. We study these phenomena in simple cardiac models through a modulation equation proposed by Echebarria-Karma. As shown in our previous paper, the zero solution of their equation may lose stability, as the pacing rate is increased, through either a Hopf or steady-state bifurcation. Which bifurcation occurs first depends on parameters in the equation, and for one critical case both modes bifurcate together at a degenerate (codimension 2) bifurcation. For parameters close to the degenerate case, we investigate the competition between modes, both numerically and analytically. We find that at sufficiently rapid pacing (but assuming a 1:1 response is maintained), steady patterns always emerge as the only stable solution. However, in the parameter range where Hopf bifurcation occurs first, the evolution from periodic solution (just after the bifurcation) to the eventual standing wave solution occurs through an interesting series of secondary bifurcations.

We present a model of the full thermo-mechanical evolution of a shape memory body undergoing a uniaxial tensile stress. The well-posedness of the related quasi-static thermo-inelastic problem is addressed by means of hysteresis operators techniques. As a by-product, details on a time-discretization of the problem are provided.

We introduce in this paper some elements for the mathematical and numerical analysis of algebraic turbulence models for oceanic surface mixing layers. In these models the turbulent diffusions are parameterized by means of the gradient Richardson number, that measures the balance between stabilizing buoyancy forces and destabilizing shearing forces. We analyze the existence and linear exponential asymptotic stability of continuous and discrete equilibria states. We also analyze the well-posedness of a simplified model, by application of the linearization principle for non-linear parabolic equations. We finally present some numerical tests for realistic flows in tropical seas that reproduce the formation of mixing layers in time scales of the order of days, in agreement with the physics of the problem. We conclude that the typical mixing layers are transient effects due to the variability of equatorial winds. Also, that these states evolve to steady states in time scales of the order of years, under negative surface energy flux conditions.

When applied to the linear advection problem in dimension two, the upwind finite volume method is a non consistent scheme in the finite differences sense but a convergent scheme. According to our previous paper [Bouche et al., SIAM J. Numer. Anal.43 (2005) 578–603], a sufficient condition in order to complete the mathematical analysis of the finite volume scheme consists in obtaining an estimation of order p, less or equal to one, of a quantity that depends only on the mesh and on the advection velocity and that we called geometric corrector. In [Bouche et al., Hermes Science publishing, London, UK (2005) 225–236], we prove that, on the mesh given by Peterson [SIAM J. Numer. Anal.28 (1991) 133–140] and for a subtle alignment of the direction of transport parallel to the vertical boundary, the infinite norm of the geometric corrector only behaves like h1/2 where h is a characteristic size of the mesh. This paper focuses on the case of an oblique incidence i.e. a transport direction that is not parallel to the boundary, still with the Peterson mesh. Using various mathematical technics, we explicitly compute an upper bound of the geometric corrector and we provide a probabilistic interpretation in terms of Markov processes. This bound is proved to behave like h, so that the order of convergence is one. Then the reduction of the order of convergence occurs only if the direction of advection is aligned with the boundary.

We analyze the accuracy and well-posedness of generalized impedance boundary value problems in the framework of scattering problems from unbounded highly absorbing media. We restrict ourselves in this first work to the scalar problem (E-mode for electromagnetic scattering problems). Compared to earlier works, the unboundedness of the rough absorbing layer introduces severe difficulties in the analysis for the generalized impedance boundary conditions, since classical compactness arguments are no longer possible. Our new analysis is based on the use of Rellich-type estimates and boundedness of L2 solution operators. We also discuss some numerical experiments concerning these boundary conditions.

The paper is devoted to the computation of two-phase flows in a porous medium when applying the two-fluid approach. The basic formulation is presented first, together with the main properties of the model. A few basic analytic solutions are then provided, some of them corresponding to solutions of the one-dimensional Riemann problem. Three distinct Finite-Volume schemes are then introduced. The first two schemes, which rely on the Rusanov scheme, are shown to give wrong approximations in some cases involving sharp porous profiles. The third one, which is an extension of a scheme proposed by Kröner and Thanh [SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 43 (2006) 796–824] for the computation of single phase flows in varying cross section ducts, provides fair results in all situations. Properties of schemes and numerical results are presented. Analytic tests enable to compute the L1 norm of the error.