Finite element discretization of a biological network formation system: a preliminary study

Abstract

A finite element discretization is developed for the Cai-Hu model, describing the formation of biological networks. The model consists of a non linear elliptic equation for the pressure $p$ and a non linear reaction-diffusion equation for the conductivity tensor $\mathbb{C}$. The problem requires high resolution due to the presence of multiple scales, the stiffness in all its components and the non linearities. We propose a low order finite element discretization in space coupled with a semi-implicit time advancing scheme. The code is {verified} with several numerical tests performed with various choices for the parameters involved in the system. In absence of the exact solution, we apply Richardson extrapolation technique to estimate the order of the method.

arXiv comment11 pages, 3 figures, 18 plots, 2 tables

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• A finite element method with mesh adaptivity for computing vortex states in fast-rotating Bose-Einstein condensates
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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Asymmetry and condition number of an elliptic-parabolic system for biological network formation