About DGSEM numerical schemes being conservative

Concerning finite volume schemes, one of their advantages rely in the fact that properties are conserved
within the global computational domain (i.e. neither mass, nor momentum vanishes due to numerical
errors). This is due to the conservative form approach of the differential equations.
F
+ =0 (1)
t x
If the equation (1) is integrated within an arbitrary volume, it obtains that the total quantity of
enclosed in the volume varies due to fluxes F that leave or enter the volume from its boundaries.
d
Z
dx + FR FL = 0 (2)
dt V
And thus, a numerical scheme will be conservative if the fluxes are computed such that adjacent cells share
the same quantity (i.e. they verify globally conservation laws in integral form). Regarding Discontinuous
Galerkin approach, the solution is projected into a piecewise polynomial basis using the discrete inner
product associated to the used basis.
N
X
(X k ()) k () = kj lj () (3)
j=0

The scheme to be verified by each interpolant coefficient is:

N
xk dQkj X
wj + FR lj (+1) FL lj (1) wn Fnk lj (n ) = 0 (4)
2 dt n=0

If this equation is added within all interpolant values in a certain element, the result is:
N N N N N
xk X dQkj X X X X
wj + FR lj (+1) FL lj (1) wn Fnk lj (n ) = 0 (5)
2 j=0 dt j=0 j=0 n=0 j=0

which can be simplified due to Lagrange interpolation polynomials properties:

N
xk X dQkj
wj + FR FL = 0 (6)
2 j=0 dt

But first term is no other than the volume integral of .

1 N
xk xk X
Z Z
dx = k ()d = wj kj (7)
k 2 1 2 j=0

And thus, DGSEM schemes are conservative if two adjacent cells share the same fluxes.
1
d
Z Z

dx + F  x dx = 0 (8)
dt k 1 k

The function used is discontinuous, but when computing the volumetric integral that arises in DGSEM
there is no negative effects on quantities conservation. As well, solution and thus its flux at the bound-
aries are also discontinuous. This is why there is a need to enforce a common flux for two adjacent cells,
which is performed by means of a Riemann solver.