paper

A stable algorithm for divergence-free radial basis functions in the flat limit

arXiv:2001.04557 · doi:10.1016/j.jcp.2020.109595

Abstract

The direct method used for calculating smooth radial basis function (RBF) interpolants in the flat limit becomes numerically unstable. The RBF-QR algorithm bypasses this ill-conditioning using a clever change of basis technique. We extend this method for computing interpolants involving matrix-valued kernels, specifically surface divergence-free RBFs on the sphere, in the flat limit. Results illustrating the effectiveness of this algorithm are presented for a divergence-free vector field on the sphere from samples at scattered points.

11 pages, 3 figures