CONSTRUCTION OF SCALAR AND VECTOR FINITE ELEMENT FAMILIES ON POLYGONAL AND POLYHEDRAL MESHES.

We combine theoretical results from polytope domain meshing, generalized barycentric coordinates, and finite element exterior calculus to construct scalar- and vector-valued basis functions for conforming finite element methods on generic convex polytope meshes in dimensions 2 and 3. Our construction recovers well-known bases for the lowest order Nédélec, Raviart-Thomas, and Brezzi-Douglas-Marini elements on simplicial meshes and generalizes the notion of Whitney forms to non-simplicial convex polygons and polyhedra. We show that our basis functions lie in the correct function space with regards to global continuity and that they reproduce the requisite polynomial differential forms described by finite element exterior calculus.

High-order finite element methods for cardiac monodomain simulations.

Computational modeling of tissue-scale cardiac electrophysiology requires numerically converged solutions to avoid spurious artifacts. The steep gradients inherent to cardiac action potential propagation necessitate fine spatial scales and therefore a substantial computational burden. The use of high-order interpolation methods has previously been proposed for these simulations due to their theoretical convergence advantage.

QUADRATIC SERENDIPITY FINITE ELEMENTS ON POLYGONS USING GENERALIZED BARYCENTRIC COORDINATES.

We introduce a finite element construction for use on the class of convex, planar polygons and show it obtains a quadratic error convergence estimate. On a convex -gon, our construction produces 2 basis functions, associated in a Lagrange-like fashion to each vertex and each edge midpoint, by transforming and combining a set of ( + 1)/2 basis functions known to obtain quadratic convergence. The technique broadens the scope of the so-called 'serendipity' elements, previously studied only for quadrilateral and regular hexahedral meshes, by employing the theory of generalized barycentric coordinates.

Molecular and subcellular-scale modeling of nucleotide diffusion in the cardiac myofilament lattice.

Contractile function of cardiac cells is driven by the sliding displacement of myofilaments powered by the cycling myosin crossbridges. Critical to this process is the availability of ATP, which myosin hydrolyzes during the cross-bridge cycle. The diffusion of adenine nucleotides through the myofilament lattice has been shown to be anisotropic, with slower radial diffusion perpendicular to the filament axis relative to parallel, and is attributed to the periodic hexagonal arrangement of the thin (actin) and thick (myosin) filaments.

Interpolation Error Estimates for Mean Value Coordinates over Convex Polygons.

In a similar fashion to estimates shown for Harmonic, Wachspress, and Sibson coordinates in [Gillette et al., AiCM, to appear], we prove interpolation error estimates for the mean value coordinates on convex polygons suitable for standard finite element analysis. Our analysis is based on providing a uniform bound on the gradient of the mean value functions for all convex polygons of diameter one satisfying certain simple geometric restrictions.

Error Estimates for Generalized Barycentric Interpolation.

We prove the optimal convergence estimate for first order interpolants used in finite element methods based on three major approaches for generalizing barycentric interpolation functions to convex planar polygonal domains. The Wachspress approach explicitly constructs rational functions, the Sibson approach uses Voronoi diagrams on the vertices of the polygon to define the functions, and the Harmonic approach defines the functions as the solution of a PDE. We show that given certain conditions on the geometry of the polygon, each of these constructions can obtain the optimal convergence estimate.

Dual Formulations of Mixed Finite Element Methods with Applications.

Mixed finite element methods solve a PDE using two or more variables. The theory of Discrete Exterior Calculus explains why the degrees of freedom associated to the different variables should be stored on both primal and dual domain meshes with a discrete Hodge star used to transfer information between the meshes. We show through analysis and examples that the choice of discrete Hodge star is essential to the numerical stability of the method.

Topology Based Selection and Curation of Level Sets.

The selection of appropriate level sets for the quantitative visualization of three dimensional imaging or simulation data is a problem that is both fundamental and essential. The selected level set needs to satisfy several topological and geometric constraints to be useful for subsequent quantitative processing and visualization. For an initial selection of an isosurface, guided by contour tree data structures, we detect the topological features by computing stable and unstable manifolds of the critical points of the distance function induced by the isosurface.