Catherine E. Powell's research page
My research is mainly concerned with numerical linear algebra for solving sparse, structured systems of equations arising in finite element discretisations of partial differential equations. I am currently interested in numerical methods, efficient solvers and preconditioners for PDEs with random data.
Topics: numerical analysis, finite elements, error estimation, mixed finite elements, stochastic finite elements, numerical linear algebra, saddlepoint systems, fast solvers, preconditioning, multigrid, algebraic multigrid
Applications: groundwater flow modelling, fluid flow, image processing
An Introduction to Computational Stochastic PDEs (by G. Lord, C.E. Powell and T. Shardlow)
This is a graduate textbook, aimed at introducing recent graduates with a good grounding in applied mathematics and numerical analysis to various elements related to stochastic differential equations. It should be available in the US from 31st July 2014 and in the UK a little later.
More information can be found at the CUP book web page, the Amazon UK book web page or the Amazon US web page .
An electronic version of the book in secure pdf format is also available from ebooks.com. Note that although other electronic formats are available, the mathematics only displays correctly in pdf format.
MATLAB files associated with the book and solutions (for verified course instructors only) are available HERE .
Most of the following pieces of work can be obtained from journals or as preprints. Copies of papers which have no active links can be obtained from me by sending me an e-mail and asking nicely.
- A preconditioner for fictitious domain formulations of elliptic PDEs on uncertain parameterized domains (with Andrew Gordon). To appear in SIAM Journal on Uncertainty Quantification. MIMS preprint .
- Energy norm a posteriori error estimation for parametric operator equations (with Alex Bespalov and David Silvester).
SIAM Journal Sci. Comp. 36(2), A339--A363 (2014) . MIMS preprint .
- Preconditioning steady-state Navier-Stokes equations with random data (with David Silvester).
SIAM Journal Sci. Comp. 34(5). (2012) . MIMS preprint .
- A framework for the development of implicit solvers for incompressible flow problems (with Alex Bespalov and David Silvester).
Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems - Series S. Vol 5 (6), pp. 1195--1221. (2012). (OPEN ACCESS)
- A Priori Error Analysis of Stochastic Galerkin Mixed Approximations of Elliptic PDEs with Random Data (with Alex Bespalov and David Silvester). SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis. 50(4), 2039--2063, (2012). MIMS preprint .
- Solving Stochastic Collocation Systems with Algebraic Multigrid (with Andrew Gordon).
IMA Journal of Numerical Analysis. Volume 32 (3). pp 1051-1070. (2011) . MIMS preprint .
- Preconditioning Stochastic Galerkin Saddle Point Systems (with Elisabeth Ullmann).
SIAM J. Matrix. Anal., 31, pp. 2813--2840 (2010) . MIMS preprint .
- Solving Stochastic Collocation Systems with Algebraic Multigrid (with Andrew Gordon). Numerical Mathematics and Advanced Applications. Proceedings of ENUMATH 2009, the 8th European Conference on Numerical Mathematics and Advanced Applications. Springer.
- H(div) Preconditioning for a Mixed Finite Element Formulation of The Stochastic Diffusion Problem.
(With Darran Furnival and Howard Elman). Mathematics of Computation. 79, pp, 733--760 (2010). (electronic 2009). MIMS preprint .
- Efficient Solvers for a Linear Stochastic Galerkin Mixed Formulation of Diffusion Problems with Random Data.
(With O.G. Ernst, E. Ullmann, D.J. Silvester). SIAM Journal Sci. Comp., 31,2, pp. 1424-1447, (2009) . MIMS preprint .
- Block-diagonal preconditioning for spectral stochastic finite element systems. (With Howard Elman).
IMA Journal of Numerical Analysis. 29 (2), pp. 350--375. , April 2009. (Submitted May 2007, electronic access 2008).
- PIFISS. Potential (Incompressible) Flow & Iterative Solution Software Guide. MIMS Preprint 2007.
- Robust Preconditioning for Second-Order Elliptic PDEs with Random Field Coefficients. MIMS Preprint 2006.
- Parameter-free H(div) preconditioning for mixed finite element formulation of diffusion problems.
IMA J. Numer. Anal.,25(4), pp.783-796, 2005. MIMS preprint.
- Improving the Forward Solver for the Complete Electrode Model in EIT using Algebraic Multigrid
(with M. Soleimani and N. Polydorides). IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 24(5), pp.577-584, 2005. MIMS preprint .
- Black-Box Preconditioning for Self-Adjoint Elliptic PDEs (with David Silvester)
Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering, 35, Springer, 2003 (CISC 2002). MIMS preprint .
- Optimal Preconditioning for Raviart-Thomas Mixed Formulation of Second-Order Elliptic Problems (with David Silvester)
SIMAX, Vol. 25, No.3, pp.718-738, 2003. MIMS preprint .
- Optimal Preconditioning for Mixed Finite Element Formulations of Second-Order Elliptic Problems
Ph.D thesis, UMIST, 2003. (Available at MIMS E-print server or request by e-mail.)
- An analysis of a mixed finite element method for the biharmonic equation.
MSc. Dissertation. UMIST, 2000.
Past Research Projects