[Colloquium] Show and Tell Series at TTI-C, 12/7/04 @ 12:15

[Katherine Cumming]

TOYOTA TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE 
SHOW AND TELL SERIES TALK
 
Speaker: Anders Logg
Speaker's homepage: http://www.tti-c.org/logg.html
 
Title: A Compiler for Variational Forms
 
 
Time: Tuesday, December 7th, 12:15pm
Place: TTI-C conference room (1427 E. 60th St. - 2nd Floor) (Lunch)
 
Abstract: 
The finite element method provides a general framework for the solution
of differential equations and can be viewed as a machine that automates
the discretization of differential equations. Given the variational
formulation a(u,v) = L(v) of a differential equation A(u) = f, the
finite element method generates a discrete system of equations for the
approximate solution U.
This generality of the finite element method is seldom reflected in
codes, which are often specialized and can handle only one equation or a
small set of differential equations. 
Today, a number of tools exist that (partly) automate the implementation
of finite element methods, but people still tend to write their own
specialized codes, thinking this will give them better performance than
with a general code in which the overhead of generality may be
substantial. 
This problem can be solved by using a compiler approach. The FEniCS Form
Compiler FFC takes as input a variational formulation a(u,v) = L(v) and
automatically generates code (C, C++, Fortran, ...) for the evaluation
of the variational form (assembly). This approach allows for maximum
generality (any form, any element) and the generated code can be as
efficient as hand-written code.
FFC is a key component of FEniCS, a free software project for the
Automation of Computational Mathematical Modeling. I will also give a
general introduction to the FEniCS project and discuss how FFC relates
to other components of FEniCS, in particular DOLFIN, FIAT, and FErari. 
 
 
 
 
If you have questions, or would like to meet the speaker, please contact
us at 4-1994 or kcumming at tti-c.org.  For information on future TTI-C
talks or events, please go to the TTI-C Events page:
http://www.tti-c.org/events.shtml
 
 
 
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