Multiple-Relaxation-Time Lattice Boltzmann scheme for fractional advection-diffusion equation

Partial differential equations (p.d.e) equipped with spatial derivatives of fractional order capture anomalous transport behaviors observed in diverse fields of Science. A number of numerical methods approximate their solutions in dimension one. Focusing our effort on such p.d.e. in higher dimension with Dirichlet boundary conditions, we present an approximation based on Lattice Boltzmann Method with Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) or Multiple-Relaxation-Time (MRT) collision operators. First, an equilibrium distribution function is defined for simulating space-fractional diffusion equations in dimensions 2 and 3. Then, we check the accuracy of the solutions by comparing with (i) random walks derived from stable Levy motion, and (ii) exact solutions. Because of its additional freedom degrees, the MRT collision operator provides accurate approximations to space-fractional advection-diffusion equations, even in the cases which the BGK fails to represent because of anisotropic diffusion tensor or of flow rate destabilizing the BGK LBM scheme. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.