Finite Element and Finite Difference Methods for Hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations

This chapter defines finite element and finite difference methods for hyperbolic partial differential equations. The advantage of the finite element method is that the resulting procedures are automatically stable and there is extreme flexibility in choosing the basic functions. Therefore, in very complicated domains or for problems with complicated interfaces, the method is the only feasible one. For hyperbolic partial differential equations it is essential to control the dispersion, dissipation, and the propagation of discontinuities. This is easily done by using suitable difference approximations. The main disadvantage of finite difference methods is that it may be difficult to handle boundaries properly.