[petsc-users] Question about NewtonTR / Inexact Newton with piecewise continuous functions

Ali ALI AHMAD ali.ali_ahmad at utt.fr
Sun Aug 24 19:16:00 CDT 2025


 
Hello, 
  
I am currently working with PETSc to solve a nonlinear system. My function is piecewise continuous (so it can be discontinuous), and its derivative (Jacobian) is also piecewise continuous. 
  
I implemented the residual and also compute the Jacobian analytically. 
  
When the discontinuities are small, both Inexact Newton and NewtonTR (with scaled Newton direction) converge without problem. 
  
However, for test cases with larger discontinuities, sometimes the solver converges, but in other cases it fails to converge. 
  
I initially tried <vinewtonssls,vinewtonrsls> , but I cannot use them in my case, because my problem involves nonlinear constraints. 
  
So my question is: how does PETSc handle such situations internally (piecewise continuous objective/residual functions)? 
And is there a recommended strategy within PETSc to deal with nonlinear solvers when and are discontinuous? 
  
I would like to continue working with PETSc and I am looking for a robust method to treat this type of problem. 
  
Thank you very much for your help and suggestions. 
  
Best regards, 
ALI ALI AHMAD 
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