The Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Method and the Julia programming language for geophysical modelling.

Abstract

Geodynamic modelling is used to enhance how we understand the physical processes which drive micro- and macro scale processes over geological time scales. With continuous development of the methods and computational techniques used, numerical models are always improving in resolution and accuracy. A technique emerging in this field is the discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Method, this method has shown promise in other fields. So, implementing this for the heat transport equation can be the stepping stone into making this method more regularly used by Geosciences students. Another area where a lot of progress is made concerning speeding up calculations is a relatively new programming language: Julia. This thesis will compare Julia with the more widely used programming language Python. If Julia is as fast and easy to use as many believe it to be it can be a very promising programming language for future Geosciences students.