An explicit fourth‐order hybrid‐variable method for Euler equations with a residual‐consistent viscosity

Abstract In this article, we present a formally fourth‐order accurate hybrid‐variable (HV) method for the Euler equations in the context of method of lines. The HV method seeks numerical approximations to both cell averages and nodal solutions and evolves them in time simultaneously; and it is proved in previous work that these methods are supraconvergent, that is, the order of the method is higher than that of the local truncation error. Taking advantage of the supraconvergence, the method is built on a third‐order discrete differential operator, which approximates the first spatial derivative at each grid point using only the information in the two neighboring cells. Analyses of stability, accuracy, and pointwise convergence are conducted in the one‐dimensional case for the linear advection equation; whereas extension to nonlinear systems including the Euler equations is achieved using characteristic decomposition and the incorporation of a residual‐consistent viscosity to capture strong discontinuities. Extensive numerical tests are presented to assess the numerical performance of the method for both 1D and 2D problems.