On optimal convergence rates for discrete minimizers of the Gross-Pitaevskii energy in LOD spaces

TL;DR

This paper proves optimal convergence rates for a two-level discretization method (LOD) used to compute ground states of Bose-Einstein condensates, enabling accurate results with coarse meshes and reducing computational costs.

Contribution

The paper establishes the first proof of optimal order error estimates for the LOD method applied to the Gross-Pitaevskii energy, confirming high convergence rates without extra regularity assumptions.

Findings

Energy and eigenvalue errors converge at 6th order with respect to mesh size.

Numerical experiments confirm theoretical convergence rates for smooth and discontinuous potentials.

Coarse meshes suffice for accurate ground state approximations, reducing computational effort.

Abstract

In this paper we revisit a two-level discretization based on the Localized Orthogonal Decomposition (LOD). It was originally proposed in [P.Henning, A.M{\aa}lqvist, D.Peterseim. SIAM J. Numer. Anal.52-4:1525-1550, 2014] to compute ground states of Bose-Einstein condensates by finding discrete minimizers of the Gross-Pitaevskii energy functional. The established convergence rates for the method appeared however suboptimal compared to numerical observations and a proof of optimal rates in this setting remained open. In this paper we shall close this gap by proving optimal order error estimates for the $L^2$- and $H^1$-error between the exact ground state and discrete minimizers, as well as error estimates for the ground state energy and the ground state eigenvalue. In particular, the achieved convergence rates for the energy and the eigenvalue are of $6$th order with respect to the mesh size on which the discrete LOD space is based, without making any additional regularity assumptions. These high rates justify the use of very coarse meshes, which significantly reduces the computational effort for finding accurate approximations of ground states. In addition, we include numerical experiments that confirm the optimality of the new theoretical convergence rates, both for smooth and discontinuous potentials.