Interpolation error estimates in W 1,p for degenerate Q 1 isoparametric elements

Optimal order error estimates in H ¹, for the Q ₁ isoparametric interpolation were obtained in Acosta and Durán (SIAM J Numer Anal37, 18–36, 1999) for a very general class of degenerate convex quadrilateral elements. In this work we show that the same conlusions are valid in W ^1,p for 1≤ p < 3 and we give a counterexample for the case p ≥ 3, showing that the result cannot be generalized for more regular functions. Despite this fact, we show that optimal order error estimates are valid for any p ≥ 1, keeping the interior angles of the element bounded away from 0 and π, independently of the aspect ratio. We also show that the restriction on the maximum angle is sharp for p ≥ 3.     

Asymptotic expansions andL ∞-error estimates for mixed finite element methods for second order elliptic problems

Summary Asymptotic expansions for mixed finite element approximations of the second order elliptic problem are derived and Richardson extrapolation can be applied to increase the accuracy of the approximations. A new procedure, which is called the error corrected method, is presented as a further application of the asymptotic error expansion for the first order BDM approximation of the scalar field. The key point in deriving the asymptotic expansions for the error is an establishment ofL ¹-error estimates for mixed finite element approximations for the regularized Green's functions. As another application of theL ¹-error estimates for the regularized Green's functions, we shall present maximum norm error estimates for mixed finite element methods for second order elliptic problems.     

Galerkin methods for nonlinear Sobolev equations

Summary We study Galerkin approximations to the solution of nonlinear Sobolev equations with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition in two spatial dimensions and derive optimalL ² error estimates for the continuous Crank — Nicolson and Extrapolated Crank — Nicolson approximations.     

A combined mixed and discontinuous Galerkin method for compressible miscible displacement problem in porous media

In this paper, we present a numerical scheme for solving the coupled system of compressible miscible displacement problem in porous media. The flow equation is solved by the mixed finite element method, and the transport equation is approximated by a discontinuous Galerkin method. The scheme is continuous in time and a priori hp error estimates is presented.     

Superconvergence of mixed covolume method for elliptic problems on triangular grids

In this paper, we consider the superconvergence of a mixed covolume method on the quasi-uniform triangular grids for the variable coefficient-matrix Poisson equations. The superconvergence estimates between the solution of the mixed covolume method and that of the mixed finite element method have been obtained. With these superconvergence estimates, we establish the superconvergence estimates and the L^∞$L^{\infty }$-error estimates for the mixed covolume method for the elliptic problems. Based on the superconvergence of the mixed covolume method, under the condition that the triangulation is uniform, we construct a post-processing method for the approximate velocity which improves the order of approximation of the approximate velocity.     

Finite element methods with numerical quadrature for elliptic problems with smooth interfaces

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of the numerical quadrature on the finite element approximation to the exact solution of elliptic equations with discontinuous coefficients. Due to low global regularity of the solution, it seems difficult to achieve optimal order of convergence with classical finite element methods [Z. Chen, J. Zou, Finite element methods and their convergence for elliptic and parabolic interface problems, Numer. Math. 79 (1998) 175-202]. We derive error estimates in finite element method with quadrature for elliptic interface problems in a two-dimensional convex polygonal domain. Optimal order error estimates in L² and H¹ norms are shown to hold even if the regularity of the solution is low on the whole domain. Finally, numerical experiment for two dimensional test problem is presented in support of our theoretical findings.     

Global weak solutions for a viscous liquid–gas model with transition to single-phase gas flow and vacuum

This work deals with a viscous two-phase liquid–gas model relevant to the flow in wells and pipelines. The liquid is treated as an incompressible fluid whereas the gas is assumed to be polytropic. The model is rewritten in terms of Lagrangian coordinates and is studied in a free boundary setting where the liquid and gas masses are of compact support initially, and continuous at the boundary. Consequently, the initial masses involve a transition to single-phase gas flow and vacuum at the boundary. An appropriate balance between pressure and viscous forces is identified which allows obtaining pointwise upper and lower estimates of masses. These estimates rely on the assumption of a certain relation between the rate of degeneracy of the viscosity coefficient and the rate that determines how fast the initial masses are vanishing at the boundary. By combining these estimates with basic energy type of estimates, higher order regularity estimates are obtained. The existence of global weak solutions is then proved by showing compactness for a class of semi-discrete approximations.     

Finite difference methods for a nonlocal boundary value problem for the heat equation

Three different finite difference schemes for solving the heat equation in one space dimension with boundary conditions containing integrals over the interior of the interval are considered. The schemes are based on the forward Euler, the backward Euler and the Crank-Nicolson methods. Error estimates are derived in maximum norm. Results from a numerical experiment are presented.     

A posteriori error estimates for mixed finite element approximations of elliptic problems

We derive residual based a posteriori error estimates of the flux in L ²-norm for a general class of mixed methods for elliptic problems. The estimate is applicable to standard mixed methods such as the Raviart–Thomas–Nedelec and Brezzi–Douglas–Marini elements, as well as stabilized methods such as the Galerkin-Least squares method. The element residual in the estimate employs an elementwise computable postprocessed approximation of the displacement which gives optimal order.     

Galerkin-wavelet methods for two-point boundary value problems

Summary Anti-derivatives of wavelets are used for the numerical solution of differential equations. Optimal error estimates are obtained in the applications to two-point boundary value problems of second order. The orthogonal property of the wavelets is used to construct efficient iterative methods for the solution of the resultant linear algebraic systems. Numerical examples are given.This work was supported by National Science Foundation     

A mixed finite element method for solving the nonstationary stokes equation

Summary This paper deals with a mixed finite element method for approximating a fourth order initial value problem arising from the nonstationary Stokes problem. For piecewise linear shape functions error estimates are given with convergence rates similar to the elliptic case. Some numerical computations will illustrate the theoretical results.     

Discontinuous Least-Squares finite element method for the Div-Curl problem

In this paper, we consider the div-curl problem posed on nonconvex polyhedral domains. We propose a least-squares method based on discontinuous elements with normal and tangential continuity across interior faces, as well as boundary conditions, weakly enforced through a properly designed least-squares functional. Discontinuous elements make it possible to take advantage of regularity of given data (divergence and curl of the solution) and obtain convergence also on nonconvex domains. In general, this is not possible in the least-squares method with standard continuous elements. We show that our method is stable, derive a priori error estimates, and present numerical examples illustrating the method.     

Convergence and superconvergence analysis of an anisotropic nonconforming finite element methods for singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion problems

The numerical approximation by a lower order anisotropic nonconforming finite element on appropriately graded meshes are considered for solving singular perturbation problems. The quasi-optimal order error estimates are proved in the ε-weighted H¹-norm valid uniformly, up to a logarithmic factor, in the singular perturbation parameter. By using the interpolation postprocessing technique, the global superconvergent error estimates in ε-weighted H¹-norm are obtained. Numerical experiments are given to demonstrate validity of our theoretical analysis.     

Algebraic convergence for anisotropic edge elements in polyhedral domains

We study approximation errors for the h-version of Nédélec edge elements on anisotropically refined meshes in polyhedra. Both tetrahedral and hexahedral elements are considered, and the emphasis is on obtaining optimal convergence rates in the H(curl) norm for higher order elements. Two types of estimates are presented: First, interpolation error estimates for functions in anisotropic weighted Sobolev spaces. Here we consider not only the H(curl)-conforming Nédélec elements, but also the H(div)-conforming Raviart-Thomas elements which appear naturally in the discrete version of the de Rham complex. Our technique is to transport error estimates from the reference element to the physical element via highly anisotropic coordinate transformations. Second, Galerkin error estimates for the standard H(curl) approximation of time harmonic Maxwell equations. Here we use the anisotropic weighted Sobolev regularity of the solution on domains with three-dimensional edges and corners. We also prove the discrete compactness property needed for the convergence of the Maxwell eigenvalue problem. Our results generalize those of [40] to the case of polyhedral corners and higher order elements.     

Biquadratic finite volume element methods based on optimal stress points for parabolic problems

In this paper, the semi-discrete and full discrete biquadratic finite volume element schemes based on optimal stress points for a class of parabolic problems are presented. Optimal order error estimates in H¹ and L² norms are derived. In addition, the superconvergences of numerical gradients at optimal stress points are also discussed. A numerical experiment confirms some results of theoretical analysis.     

Asymptotic estimation for the condition numbers in BEM

Summary. We apply the boundary element methods (BEM) to the interior Dirichlet problem of the two dimensional Laplace equation, and its discretization is carried out with the collocation method using piecewise linear elements. In this paper, some precise asymptotic estimations for the discretization matrix (where denotes the division number) are investigated. We show that the maximum norm of and the condition number of have the forms: and , respectively, as , where the constants and are explicitly given in the proof. Although these estimates indicate illconditionedness of this numerical computation, the -convergence of this scheme with maximum norm is proved as an application of the main results. Received January 25, 1993 / Revised version received March 13, 1995     

A uniformly convergent scheme for a system of reaction–diffusion equations

In this work a system of two parabolic singularly perturbed equations of reaction–diffusion type is considered. The asymptotic behaviour of the solution and its partial derivatives is given. A decomposition of the solution in its regular and singular parts has been used for the asymptotic analysis of the spatial derivatives. To approximate the solution we consider the implicit Euler method for time stepping and the central difference scheme for spatial discretization on a special piecewise uniform Shishkin mesh. We prove that this scheme is uniformly convergent, with respect to the diffusion parameters, having first-order convergence in time and almost second-order convergence in space, in the discrete maximum norm. Numerical experiments illustrate the order of convergence proved theoretically.     

Error estimates of triangular finite elements under a weak angle condition

In this note, by analyzing the interpolation operator of Girault and Raviart given in [V. Girault, P.A. Raviart, Finite element methods for Navier–Stokes equations, Theory and algorithms, in: Springer Series in Computational Mathematics, Springer-Verlag, Berlin,1986] over triangular meshes, we prove optimal interpolation error estimates for Lagrange triangular finite elements of arbitrary order under the maximal angle condition in a unified and simple way. The key estimate is only an application of the Bramble–Hilbert lemma.     

Streamline diffusion finite element method for quasilinear elliptic problems

Summary We extend the analysis of the streamline diffusion finite element method to quasilinear elliptic problems of second order. An existence theorem and error estimates are given in the case of branches of nonsingular solutions following a recent abstract approach in [12, 13, 26].     

Quadratic spline collocation methods for elliptic partial differential equations

We consider Quadratic Spline Collocation (QSC) methods for linear second order elliptic Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). The standard formulation of these methods leads to non-optimal approximations. In order to derive optimal QSC approximations, high order perturbations of the PDE problem are generated. These perturbations can be applied either to the PDE problem operators or to the right sides, thus leading to two different formulations of optimal QSC methods. The convergence properties of the QSC methods are studied. OptimalO(h ^3–j ) global error estimates for thejth partial derivative are obtained for a certain class of problems. Moreover,O(h ^4–j ) error bounds for thejth partial derivative are obtained at certain sets of points. Results from numerical experiments verify the theoretical behaviour of the QSC methods. Performance results also show that the QSC methods are very effective from the computational point of view. They have been implemented efficiently on parallel machines.This research was supported in part by David Ross Foundation (U.S.A) and NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada).