Special Session 130: kinetic theory, analysis and application

Fast spectral method for the linearized Boltzmann collision operator

Zhenning Cai
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Co-Author(s):    
Abstract:
We develop a fast numerical method for the Boltzmann collision operator linearized about the local Maxwellian. The algorihtm is based on the Fourier spectral method, and the computational cost is $O(N^4 \log N)$ for all variable hard sphere models. To achieve better numerical stability, we couple the Fourier method and the Burnett spectral method to handle the tail of the distribution function. In this talk, we will also discuss the potential use of our method in solving the steady-state Boltzmann equation.