A meshfree method for eigenvalues of differential operators on surfaces, including Steklov problems

Abstract

We present and study techniques for investigating the spectra of linear differential operators on surfaces and flat domains using symmetric meshfree methods: meshfree methods that arise from finding norm-minimizing Hermite–Birkhoff interpolants in a Hilbert space. Meshfree methods are desirable for surface problems due to the increased difficulties associated with mesh creation and refinement on curved surfaces. While meshfree methods have been used for solving a wide range of partial differential equations (PDEs) in recent years, the spectra of operators discretized using radial basis functions (RBFs) often suffer from the presence of non-physical eigenvalues (spurious modes). This makes many RBF methods unhelpful for eigenvalue problems. We provide rigorously justified processes for finding eigenvalues based on results concerning the norm of the solution in its native space; specifically, only PDEs with solutions in the native space produce numerical solutions with bounded norms as the fill distance approaches zero. For certain problems, we prove that eigenvalue and eigenfunction estimates converge at a high-order rate. The technique we present is general enough to work for a wide variety of problems, including Steklov problems, where the eigenvalue parameter is in the boundary condition. Numerical experiments for a mix of standard and Steklov eigenproblems on surfaces with and without boundary, as well as flat domains, are presented, including a Steklov–Helmholtz problem.