The discrete maximum principle and energy stability of a new second-order difference scheme for Allen-Cahn equations

This paper deals with the discrete maximum principle and energy stability of a new difference scheme for solving Allen-Cahn equations. By combining the second-order central difference approximation in space and the Crank-Nicolson method with Newton linearized technique in time, a two-level linearized difference scheme for Allen-Cahn equations is derived, which can yield accuracy of order two both in time and space. Under appropriate conditions, the scheme is proved to be uniquely solvable and able to preserve the maximum principle and energy stability of the equations in the discrete sense. With some numerical experiments, the theoretical results and computational effectiveness of the scheme are further illustrated. (C) 2021 IMACS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.