An Efficient and Stable Method for Computing Multiple Saddle Points with Symmetries

In this paper, an efficient and stable numerical algorithm for computing multiple saddle points with symmetries is developed by modifying the local minimax method established in [Y. Li and J. Zhou, SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 23 (2001), pp. 840--865; Y. Li and J. Zhou, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 24 (2002), pp. 840--865]. First an invariant space is defined in a more general sense and a principle of invariant criticality is proved for the generalization. Then the orthogonal projection to the invariant space is used to preserve the invariance and to reduce computational error across iterations. Simple averaging formulas are used for the orthogonal projections. Numerical computations of examples with various symmetries, of which some can and others cannot be characterized by a compact group of linear isomorphisms, are carried out to confirm the theory and to illustrate applications. The mathematical features of various problems demonstrated in these examples fall into two categories: nodal solutions of saddle-point type with large Morse indices and nonradial positive solutions via symmetry breaking in radially symmetric elliptic problems. The new numerical algorithm generates these rather unstable solutions in an efficient and stable way. The existence of many unstable solutions and their behavior found in this paper remain to be investigated.

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