Solving the nonlinear Schrödinger equation using cubic B-spline interpolation and finite difference methods

Abstract

In this paper, Nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation with Neumann boundary conditions is solved using finite difference method (FDM) and cubic B-spline interpolation method (CuBSIM). First, the approach is based on the FDM applied on the time and space discretization with the help of theta-weighted method. However, our main interest is the second approach, whereby FDM is applied on the time discretization and cubic B-spline is utilized as an interpolation function in the space dimension with the same help of theta-weighted method. The CuBSIM is shown to be stable by using von Neumann stability analysis. The proposed method is tested on a test problem with single soliton motion of the NLS equation. The accuracy of the numerical results is measured by the Euclidean-norm and infinity-norm. CuBSIM is found to produce more accurate results than the FDM.