Fast multigrid solution of high-order accurate multi-phase Stokes problems

Abstract: A fast multigrid solver is presented for high-order accurate Stokes problems discretised by local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) methods. The multigrid algorithm consists of a simple V-cycle, using an element-wise block Gauss-Seidel smoother. The efficacy of this approach depends on the LDG pressure penalty stabilisation parameter -- provided the parameter is suitably chosen, numerical experiment shows that: (i) for steady-state Stokes problems, the convergence rate of the multigrid solver can match that of classical geometric multigrid methods for Poisson problems; (ii) for unsteady Stokes problems, the convergence rate further accelerates as the effective Reynolds number is increased. An extensive range of two- and three-dimensional test problems demonstrates the solver performance as well as high-order accuracy -- these include cases with periodic, Dirichlet, and stress boundary conditions; variable-viscosity and multi-phase embedded interface problems containing density and viscosity discontinuities several orders in magnitude; and test cases with curved geometries using semi-unstructured meshes.