A Lagrangian scheme for the incompressible Euler equation using optimal transport

Abstract: We approximate the regular solutions of the incompressible Euler equation by the solution of ODEs on finite-dimensional spaces. Our approach combines Arnold's interpretation of the solution of Euler's equation for incompressible and inviscid fluids as geodesics in the space of measure-preserving diffeomorphisms, and an extrinsic approximation of the equations of geodesics due to Brenier. Using recently developed semi-discrete optimal transport solvers, this approach yields numerical scheme able to handle problems of realistic size in 2D. Our purpose in this article is to establish the convergence of these scheme towards regular solutions of the incompressible Euler equation, and to provide numerical experiments on a few simple testcases in 2D.