An Explicit Adaptive Finite Difference Method for the Cahn-Hilliard Equation.

In this study, we propose an explicit adaptive finite difference method (FDM) for the Cahn-Hilliard (CH) equation which describes the process of phase separation. The CH equation has been successfully utilized to model and simulate diverse field applications such as complex interfacial fluid flows and materials science. To numerically solve the CH equation fast and efficiently, we use the FDM and time-adaptive narrow-band domain. For the adaptive grid, we define a narrow-band domain including the interfacial transition layer of the phase field based on an undivided finite difference and solve the numerical scheme on the narrow-band domain. The proposed numerical scheme is based on an alternating direction explicit (ADE) method. To make the scheme conservative, we apply a mass correction algorithm after each temporal iteration step. To demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed adaptive FDM for the CH equation, we present two- and three-dimensional numerical experiments and compare them with those of other previous methods.

Mathematical modeling and computer simulation of the three-dimensional pattern formation of honeycombs.

We present a mathematical model, a numerical scheme, and computer simulations of the three-dimensional pattern formation of a honeycomb structure by using the immersed boundary method. In our model, we assume that initially the honeycomb cells have a hollow hemisphere mounted by a hollow circular cylinder shape at their birth and there is force acting upon the entire side of the cell. The net force from the individual cells is a key factor in their transformation from a hollow hemisphere mounted by a hollow circular cylinder shape to a rounded rhombohedral surfaces mounted by a hexagonal cylinder shape. Numerical simulations of the proposed mathematical model equation produce the rounded rhombohedral surfaces mounted by a hexagonal cylinder patterns observed in honeybee colonies.

The daily computed weighted averaging basic reproduction number R 0 , k , ω n for MERS-CoV in South Korea.

In this paper, we propose the daily computed weighted averaging basic reproduction number R 0 , k , ω n for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea, May to July 2015. We use an SIR model with piecewise constant parameters ß (contact rate) and γ (removed rate). We use the explicit Euler's method for the solution of the SIR model and a nonlinear least-square fitting procedure for finding the best parameters. In R 0 , k , ω n , the parameters n , k , and w denote days from a reference date, the number of days in averaging, and a weighting factor, respectively. We perform a series of numerical experiments and compare the results with the real-world data. In particular, using the predicted reproduction number based on the previous two consecutive reproduction numbers, we can predict the future behavior of the reproduction number.

Microphase separation patterns in diblock copolymers on curved surfaces using a nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard equation.

We investigate microphase separation patterns on curved surfaces in three-dimensional space by numerically solving a nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard equation for diblock copolymers. In our model, a curved surface is implicitly represented as the zero level set of a signed distance function. We employ a discrete narrow band grid that neighbors the curved surface. Using the closest point method, we apply a pseudo-Neumann boundary at the boundary of the computational domain. The boundary treatment allows us to replace the Laplace-Beltrami operator by the standard Laplacian operator. In particular, we can apply standard finite difference schemes in order to approximate the nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard equation in the discrete narrow band domain. We employ a type of unconditionally stable scheme, which was introduced by Eyre, and use the Jacobi iterative to solve the resulting implicit discrete system of equations. In addition, we use the minimum number of grid points for the discrete narrow band domain. Therefore, the algorithm is simple and fast. Numerous computational experiments are provided to study microphase separation patterns for diblock copolymers on curved surfaces in three-dimensional space.

Mathematical model and numerical simulation of the cell growth in scaffolds.

A scaffold is a three-dimensional matrix that provides a structural base to fill tissue lesion and provides cells with a suitable environment for proliferation and differentiation. Cell-seeded scaffolds can be implanted immediately or be cultured in vitro for a period of time before implantation. To obtain uniform cell growth throughout the entire volume of the scaffolds, an optimal strategy on cell seeding into scaffolds is important. We propose an efficient and accurate numerical scheme for a mathematical model to predict the growth and distribution of cells in scaffolds. The proposed numerical algorithm is a hybrid method which uses both finite difference approximations and analytic closed-form solutions. The effects of each parameter in the mathematical model are numerically investigated. Moreover, we propose an optimization algorithm which finds the best set of model parameters that minimize a discrete l(2) error between numerical and experimental data. Using the mathematical model and its efficient and accurate numerical simulations, we could interpret experimental results and identify dominating mechanisms.