Finite difference methods for linear transport equations

Abstract: DiPerna-Lions (Invent. Math. 1989) established the existence and uniqueness results for linear transport equations with Sobolev velocity fields. This paper provides mathematical analysis on two simple finite difference methods applied to linear transport equations on a bounded domain with divergence-free (unbounded) Sobolev velocity fields. The first method is based on a Lax-Friedrichs type explicit scheme with a generalized hyperbolic scale, where truncation of an unbounded velocity field and its measure estimate are implemented to ensure the monotonicity of the scheme; the method is $L^p$-strongly convergent. The second method is based on an implicit scheme with $L^2$-estimates, where the discrete Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition for discretized velocity fields plays an important role to ensure the divergence-free constraint in the discrete problem; the method is scale-free and $L^2$-strongly convergent. The key point for both of our methods is to obtain fine $L^2$-bounds of approximate solutions that tend to the norm of the exact solution given by DiPerna-Lions. Finally, the explicit scheme is applied to the case with smooth velocity fields from the viewpoint of the level-set method involving transport equations, where rigorous discrete approximation of geometric quantities of level sets is discussed.