In this work, we propose an efficient numerical method for computing the electrostatic interaction between two like-charged spherical particles which is governed by the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The nonlin...In this work, we propose an efficient numerical method for computing the electrostatic interaction between two like-charged spherical particles which is governed by the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The nonlinear problem is solved by a monotone iterative method which leads to a sequence of linearized equations. A modified central finite difference scheme is developed to solve the linearized equations on an exterior irregular domain using a uniform Cartesian grid. With uniform grids, the method is simple, and as a consequence, multigrid solvers can be employed to speed up the convergence. Numerical experiments on cases with two isolated spheres and two spheres confined in a charged cylindrical pore are carried out using the proposed method. Our numerical schemes are found efficient and the numerical results are found in good agreement with the previous published results.展开更多
基金The research of the first author is supported by the Hong Kong Baptist University. The research of the second author is partially supported by a USA-AR0 grant 43751-MA and USA- NFS grants DMS0201094 and DMS-0412654. The third author is partially supported by CERG Grants of Hong Kong Research Grant Council, FRG grants of Hong Kong Baptist University, and an NSAF Grant （#10476032） of National Science Foundation of Chian.
文摘In this work, we propose an efficient numerical method for computing the electrostatic interaction between two like-charged spherical particles which is governed by the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The nonlinear problem is solved by a monotone iterative method which leads to a sequence of linearized equations. A modified central finite difference scheme is developed to solve the linearized equations on an exterior irregular domain using a uniform Cartesian grid. With uniform grids, the method is simple, and as a consequence, multigrid solvers can be employed to speed up the convergence. Numerical experiments on cases with two isolated spheres and two spheres confined in a charged cylindrical pore are carried out using the proposed method. Our numerical schemes are found efficient and the numerical results are found in good agreement with the previous published results.
