A conservative nonlinear difference scheme for the viscous Cahn-Hilliard equation

Numerical solutions for the viscous Cahn-Hilliard equation are considered using the crank-Nicolson type finite difference method which conserves the mass. The corresponding stability and error analysis of the scheme are shown. The decay speeds of the solution inH 1-norm are shown. We also compare the evolution of the viscous Cahn-Hilliard equation with that of the Cahn-Hilliard equation numerically and computationally, which has been given as an open question in Novick-Cohen[13].