Comparison of Dirichlet-Neumann operator expansions for nonlinear surface gravity waves

Abstract The Dirichlet–Neumann operator for the water-wave problem was introduced and expanded by Craig and Sulem [Craig, W., Sulem, C., 1993. [CS] Numerical simulation of gravity waves. J. Comput. Phys. 108, 73–83] and in a slightly different form and for 3D waves by Bateman, Swan and Taylor [Bateman, W.J.D., Swan, C., Taylor, P.H., 2001. [BST] On the efficient numerical simulation of directionally spread surface water waves. J. Comput. Phys. 174, 277–305]. This approach is supposedly superior to techniques derived earlier by West et al. [West, B.J., Brueckner, K.A., Janda, R.S., Milder, D.M., Milton, R.L., 1987. [WW] A new numerical method for surface hydrodynamics. J. Geophys. Res. 92 (C11), 11803–11824] and Dommermuth and Yue [Dommermuth, D.G., Yue, D.K.P., 1987. [DY] A high-order spectral method for the study of nonlinear gravity waves. J. Fluid Mech. 184, 267–288] under seemingly more restrictive assumptions. This paper extracts the Dirichlet–Neumann operator expansions from West et al. and Dommermuth and Yue. Concerning the operator expansions alone it is found that Bateman et al. is identical to West et al. and Dommermuth and Yue while Craig and Sulem is slightly different due to minor differences in the operator definition. For application to the free-surface boundary conditions West et al. devised a consistent truncation at nonlinear order. This alters the equivalence of the different approaches when it comes to the evaluation of the temporal derivative of the free surface elevation, which is decisive for wave evolution. In this regard Craig and Sulem is found to be identical to West et al. while Bateman et al. is identical to Dommermuth and Yue. Pseudo code is provided for alternative computational schemes in Fourier-space and physical space, respectively, along with a discussion of efficiency and potential flexibility.