Solving time-dependent PDEs with the ultraspherical spectral method

Abstract: We apply the ultraspherical spectral method to solving time-dependent PDEs by proposing two approaches to discretization based on the method of lines and show that these approaches produce approximately same results. We analyze the stability, the error, and the computational cost of the proposed method. In addition, we show how adaptivity can be incorporated to offer adequate spatial resolution efficiently. Both linear and nonlinear problems are considered. We also explore time integration using exponential integrators with the ultraspherical spatial discretization. Comparisons with the Chebyshev pseudospectral method are given along the discussion and they show that the ultraspherical spectral method is a competitive candidate for the spatial discretization of time-dependent PDEs.