Analysis on a Numerical Scheme with Second-Order Time Accuracy for Nonlinear Diffusion Equations

Abstract

A nonlinear fully implicit finite difference scheme with second-order time evolution for nonlinear diffusion problem is studied. The scheme is constructed with two-layer coupled discretization (TLCD) at each time step. It does not stir numerical oscillation, while permits large time step length, and produces more accurate numerical solutions than the other two well-known second-order time evolution nonlinear schemes, the Crank-Nicolson (CN) scheme and the backward difference formula second-order (BDF2) scheme. By developing a new reasoning technique, we overcome the difficulties caused by the coupled nonlinear discrete diffusion operators at different time layers, and prove rigorously the TLCD scheme is uniquely solvable, unconditionally stable, and has second-order convergence in both space and time. Numerical tests verify the theoretical results, and illustrate its superiority over the CN and BDF2 schemes.