A priori estimation of memory effects in reduced-order models of nonlinear systems using the Mori–Zwanzig formalism

Abstract

Reduced models of nonlinear dynamical systems require closure, or the modelling of the unresolved modes. The Mori–Zwanzig procedure can be used to derive formally closed evolution equations for the resolved physics. In these equations, the unclosed terms are recast as a memory integral involving the time history of the resolved variables. While this procedure does not reduce the complexity of the original system, these equations can serve as a mathematically consistent basis to develop closures based on memory approximations. In this scenario, knowledge of the memory kernel is paramount in assessing the validity of a memory approximation. Unravelling the memory kernel requires solving the orthogonal dynamics, which is a high-dimensional partial differential equation that is intractable, in general. A method to estimate the memory kernel a priori , using full-order solution snapshots, is proposed. The key idea is to solve a pseudo orthogonal dynamics equation, which has a convenient Liouville form, instead. This ersatz arises from the assumption that the semi-group of the orthogonal dynamics is a composition operator for one observable. The method is exact for linear systems. Numerical results on the Burgers and Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equations demonstrate that the proposed technique can provide valuable information about the memory kernel.