| Abstract: | In this paper, we represent a new numerical method for solving the steady-state Stokes equations in an unbounded plane domain. The technique consists in coupling the boundary integral and the finite element methods. An artificial smooth boundary is introduced separating an interior inhomogeneous region from an exterior one. The solution in the exterior domain is represented by an integral equation over the artificial boundary. This integral equation is incorporated into a velocitypressure formulation for the interior region, and a finite element method is used to approximate the resulting variational problem. This is studied by means of an abstract framework, well adapted to the model problem, in which convergence results and optimal error estimates are derived. Computer results will be discussed in a forthcoming paper. |
