Optimal discontinuous finite element methods for the Boltzmann transport equation with arbitrary discretisation in angle

Abstract This paper describes the development of two optimal discontinuous finite element (FE) Riemann methods and their application to the one-speed Boltzmann transport equation in the steady-state. The proposed methods optimise the amount of dissipation applied in the streamline direction. This dissipation is applied within an element using a novel Riemann FE method, which is based on an analogy between control volume discretisation methods and finite element methods when integration by parts is applied to the transport terms. In one-dimension the optimal finite element solutions match the analytical solution exactly at each outlet node. Both schemes couple elements in space via a Riemann approach. The first of the two schemes is a Petrov–Galerkin (PG) method which introduces dissipation via the equation residual. The second scheme uses a streamline diffusion stabilisation term in the discretisation. These two methods provide a discontinuous Petrov–Galerkin (DPG) scheme that can stabilise an element across the full range of radiation regimes, obtaining robust solutions with suppressed oscillation. Three basis functions in angle of particle travel have been implemented in an optimal DPG Riemann solver, which include the P N (spherical harmonic), S N (discrete ordinate) and LW N (linear octahedral wavelet) angular expansions. These methods are applied to a series of demanding two-dimensional radiation transport problems.