Multilevel Sparse Grid Methods for Elliptic Partial Differential Equations with Random Coefficients

Abstract: Stochastic sampling methods are arguably the most direct and least intrusive means of incorporating parametric uncertainty into numerical simulations of partial differential equations with random inputs. However, to achieve an overall error that is within a desired tolerance, a large number of sample simulations may be required (to control the sampling error), each of which may need to be run at high levels of spatial fidelity (to control the spatial error). Multilevel sampling methods aim to achieve the same accuracy as traditional sampling methods, but at a reduced computational cost, through the use of a hierarchy of spatial discretization models. Multilevel algorithms coordinate the number of samples needed at each discretization level by minimizing the computational cost, subject to a given error tolerance. They can be applied to a variety of sampling schemes, exploit nesting when available, can be implemented in parallel and can be used to inform adaptive spatial refinement strategies. We extend the multilevel sampling algorithm to sparse grid stochastic collocation methods, discuss its numerical implementation and demonstrate its efficiency both theoretically and by means of numerical examples.