Exact symmetry conservation and automatic mesh refinement in discrete initial boundary value problems

Abstract: We present a novel solution procedure for initial boundary value problems. The procedure is based on an action principle, in which coordinate maps are included as dynamical degrees of freedom. This reparametrization invariant action is formulated in an abstract parameter space and an energy density scale associated with the space-time coordinates separates the dynamics of the coordinate maps and of the propagating fields. Treating coordinates as dependent, i.e. dynamical quantities, offers the opportunity to discretize the action while retaining all space-time symmetries and also provides the basis for automatic adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). The presence of unbroken space-time symmetries after discretization also ensures that the associated continuum Noether charges remain exactly conserved. The presence of coordinate maps in addition provides new freedom in the choice of boundary conditions. An explicit numerical example for wave propagation in $1+1$ dimensions is provided, using recently developed regularized summation-by-parts finite difference operators.