Reduced basis method for the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation regularized by the range-separated canonical tensor format

TL;DR

This paper introduces a reduced basis method combined with the range-separated tensor format to efficiently solve the regularized nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation, significantly reducing computational costs while maintaining accuracy.

Contribution

The study develops a novel reduced order model for the regularized PBE using RBM and (D)EIM, enabling efficient and accurate solutions of high-dimensional nonlinear electrostatic problems.

Findings

Achieves accurate approximation of the nonlinear RPBE with low-dimensional models.

Demonstrates significant computational savings compared to classical methods.

Validates the approach through numerical experiments showing high accuracy.

Abstract

The Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE) is a fundamental implicit solvent continuum model for calculating the electrostatic potential of large ionic solvated biomolecules. However, its numerical solution encounters severe challenges arising from its strong singularity and nonlinearity. In [1,2], the effect of strong singularities was eliminated by applying the range-separated (RS) canonical tensor format [3,4] to construct a solution decomposition scheme for the PBE. The RS tensor format allows to derive a smooth approximation to the Dirac delta distribution in order to obtain a regularized PBE (RPBE) model. However, solving the RPBE is still computationally demanding due to its high dimension $\mathcal{N}$, where $\mathcal{N}$ is always in the millions. In this study, we propose to apply the reduced basis method (RBM) and the (discrete) empirical interpolation method ((D)EIM) to the RPBE in order to construct a reduced order model (ROM) of low dimension $N \ll \mathcal{N}$, whose solution accurately approximates the nonlinear RPBE. The long-range potential can be obtained by lifting the ROM solution back to the $\mathcal{N}$-space while the short-range potential is directly precomputed analytically, thanks to the RS tensor format. The sum of both provides the total electrostatic potential. The main computational benefit is the avoidance of computing the numerical approximation of the singular electrostatic potential. We demonstrate in the numerical experiments, the accuracy and efficacy of the reduced basis (RB) approximation to the nonlinear RPBE (NRPBE) solution and the corresponding computational savings over the classical nonlinear PBE (NPBE) as well as over the RBM being applied to the classical NPBE.