An abstraction for solving multi-domain problems using finite element methods

Abstract: We introduce a new abstraction for the representation and solution of multi-domain problems using finite element methods. This is an advance over previous work in that it achieves a single higher-level abstraction that represents multi-domain problems in the mixed variational problem formalism. We implemented our new abstraction in UFL and Firedrake, and validated our implementations solving a quad-triangle mixed-cell-type problem, a hex-quad mixed-cell-type problem, and a fluid-structure interaction benchmark problem.