A Discontinuous Galerkin - Front Tracking Scheme and its Optimal$^2$ Error Estimation

Abstract

In [11] and [5], an error estimate of optimal convergence rates and optimal error propagation (optimal^2) was given for the Runge-Kutta discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG) method solving the scalar nonlinear conservation laws in the case of smooth solutions. This manuscript generalizes the problem to the case of a piecewise smooth solution containing one fully developed shock. A front tracking technique is incorporated in the RKDG scheme to produce a numerical solution with a truly high order error. The numerical smoothness approach of [11] is generalized to this particular case of a discontinuous solution.