Towards computing high-order p-harmonic descent directions and their limits in shape optimization

Abstract: We present an extension of an algorithm for the classical scalar $p$-Laplace Dirichlet problem to the vector-valued $p$-Laplacian with mixed boundary conditions in order to solve problems occurring in shape optimization using a $p$-harmonic approach. The main advantage of the proposed method is that no iteration over the order $p$ is required and thus allow the efficient computation of solutions for higher orders. We show that the required number of Newton iterations remains polynomial with respect to the number of grid points and validate the results by numerical experiments considering the deformation of shapes. Further, we discuss challenges arising when considering the limit of these problems from an analytical and numerical perspective, especially with respect to a change of sign in the source term.