Finite volume methods for hyperbolic conservation laws

Abstract

Finite volume methods apply directly to the conservation law form of a differential equation system; and they commonly yield cell average approximations to the unknowns rather than point values. The discrete equations that they generate on a regular mesh look rather like finite difference equations; but they are really much closer to finite element methods, sharing with them a natural formulation on unstructured meshes. The typical projection onto a piecewise constant trial space leads naturally into the theory of optimal recovery to achieve higher than first-order accuracy. They have dominated aerodynamics computation for over forty years, but they have never before been the subject of an Acta Numerica article. We shall therefore survey their early formulations before describing powerful developments in both their theory and practice that have taken place in the last few years.