Laplace Equation
Laplace's equation on a square grid
$$ \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial y^2} = 0 $$
Dirichlet Boundary conditions are:
- Left B.C.: \( U(0, y) = \frac{y}{1 + y^2}, \, \text{for} \, 0 < y < 1 \)
- Right B.C.: \( U(1, y) = \frac{y}{4 + y^2}, \, \text{for} \, 0 < y < 1 \)
- Bottom B.C.: \( U(x, 0) = 0, \, \text{for} \, 0 < x < 1 \)
- Top B.C.: \( U(x, 1) = \frac{1}{(1 + x^2) + 1}, \, \text{for} \, 0 < x < 1 \)
Exact Analytical Solution:
$$ U_A = \frac{y}{(1 + x^2) + y^2} $$
Laplace's Equation
Using the iterative solver (such as the Gauss-Seidel method), we begin with Laplace's equation in two dimensions:
\[ \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial y^2} = 0. \]
Discretization of Laplace's Equation
The 2D Laplace equation is discretized using a finite difference method. In the code, this is done on a uniform grid, where the second derivatives with respect to \(x\) and \(y\) are approximated using central differences. Let's break this down.
Second derivative with respect to \(x\):
\[ \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial x^2} \approx \frac{U_{i+1,j} - 2U_{i,j} + U_{i-1,j}}{(\Delta x)^2} \] where \(U_{i,j}\) is the value of \(U\) at grid point \((i,j)\) and \(\Delta x = \frac{L_x}{n_x - 1}\).
Second derivative with respect to \(y\):
\[ \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial y^2} \approx \frac{U_{i,j+1} - 2U_{i,j} + U_{i,j-1}}{(\Delta y)^2} \] where \(\Delta y = \frac{L_y}{n_y - 1}\).
Discretized Laplace Equation
The discrete form of the Laplace equation (by adding the two central differences) becomes:
\[\small \frac{U_{i+1,j} - 2U_{i,j} + U_{i-1,j}}{(\Delta x)^2} + \frac{U_{i,j+1} - 2U_{i,j} + U_{i,j-1}}{(\Delta y)^2} = 0. \]
To simplify, we assume the grid is uniform, meaning \(\Delta x = \Delta y = h\). This gives:
\[\small \frac{U_{i+1,j} - 2U_{i,j} + U_{i-1,j}}{h^2} + \frac{U_{i,j+1} - 2U_{i,j} + U_{i,j-1}}{h^2} = 0. \]
Multiplying through by \(h^2\) and solving for \(U_{i,j}\):
\[ U_{i,j} = \frac{1}{4} \left( U_{i+1,j} + U_{i-1,j} + U_{i,j+1} + U_{i,j-1} \right). \]
Recurrence Relation
The recurrence relation used in the iterative solver is derived from the above discretized equation. The updated value of \(U_{i,j}\) is obtained by averaging the neighboring points:
\[ U_{i,j}^{(new)} = \frac{1}{4} \left( U_{i+1,j}^{(old)} + U_{i-1,j}^{(old)} + U_{i,j+1}^{(old)} + U_{i,j-1}^{(old)} \right). \]