Superconvergence and gradient recovery for a finite volume element method for solving convection‐diffusion equations

We study the superconvergence of the finite volume element (FVE) method for solving convection‐diffusion equations using bilinear trial functions. We first establish a superclose weak estimate for the bilinear form of FVE method. Based on this estimate, we obtain the H¹‐superconvergence result: . Then, we present a gradient recovery formula and prove that the recovery gradient possesses the ‐order superconvergence. Moreover, an asymptotically exact a posteriori error estimate is also given for the gradient error of FVE solution.Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 1152–1168, 2014     

Superconvergence of Ritz‐Galerkin finite element approximations for second order elliptic problems

In this paper, the author derives an ‐superconvergence for the piecewise linear Ritz‐Galerkin finite element approximations for the second‐order elliptic equation equipped with Dirichlet boundary conditions. This superconvergence error estimate is established between the finite element solution and the usual Lagrange nodal point interpolation of the exact solution, and thus the superconvergence at the nodal points of each element. The result is based on a condition for the finite element partition characterized by the coefficient tensor and the usual shape functions on each element, called ‐equilateral assumption in this paper. Several examples are presented for the coefficient tensor and finite element triangulations which satisfy the conditions necessary for superconvergence. Some numerical experiments are conducted to confirm this new theory of superconvergence.     

Least‐squares method for the Oseen equation

This article studies the least‐squares finite element method for the linearized, stationary Navier–Stokes equation based on the stress‐velocity‐pressure formulation in d dimensions (d = 2 or 3). The least‐squares functional is simply defined as the sum of the squares of the L² norm of the residuals. It is shown that the homogeneous least‐squares functional is elliptic and continuous in the norm. This immediately implies that the a priori error estimate of the conforming least‐squares finite element approximation is optimal in the energy norm. The L² norm error estimate for the velocity is also established through a refined duality argument. Moreover, when the right‐hand side f belongs only to , we derive an a priori error bound in a weaker norm, that is, the norm. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 1289–1303, 2016     

Superconvergence analysis of the MAC scheme for the two dimensional stokes problem

This article is concerned with a rigorous superconvergence analysis of the marker and cell method (MAC) for steady Stokes equations. We first derive the MAC scheme from a staggered finite volume element method (FVEM) with a proper quadrature. Then by comparing the MAC to the corresponding FVEM, we prove the superconvergence of the MAC scheme over non‐uniform rectangular meshes. As a byproduct, an optimal order error estimate is also obtained. © 2016Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 1647–1666, 2016     

The fictitious domain method with L2‐penalty for the Stokes problem with the Dirichlet boundary condition

We consider the fictitious domain method with L²‐penalty for the Stokes problem with the Dirichlet boundary condition. First, we investigate the error estimates for the penalty method at the continuous level. We obtain the convergence of order in H¹‐norm for the velocity and in L²‐norm for the pressure, where is the penalty parameter. The L²‐norm error estimate for the velocity is upgraded to . Moreover, we derive the a priori estimates depending on for the solution of the penalty problem. Next, we apply the finite element approximation to the penalty problem using the P1/P1 element with stabilization. For the discrete penalty problem, we prove the error estimate in H¹‐norm for the velocity and in L²‐norm for the pressure, where h denotes the discretization parameter. For the velocity in L²‐norm, the convergence rate is improved to . The theoretical results are verified by the numerical experiments.     

Error analysis of mixed finite element method for Poisson‐Nernst‐Planck system

To improve the convergence rate in L² norm from suboptimal to optimal for both electrostatic potential and ionic concentrations in Poisson‐Nernst‐Planck (PNP) system, we propose the mixed finite element method in this article to discretize the electrostatic potential equation, and still use the standard finite element method to discretize the time‐dependent ionic concentrations equations. Optimal error estimates in norm for the electrostatic potential, and in and norms for the ionic concentrations are attained. As a by‐product, the electric field can also achieve a higher approximation order in contrast with the standard finite element method for PNP system. Numerical experiments are performed to validate the theoretical results.© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 1924–1948, 2017     

A priori and a posteriori error analysis for the mixed discontinuous Galerkin finite element approximations of the biharmonic problems

In this article, a new mixed discontinuous Galerkin finite element method is proposed for the biharmonic equation in two or three‐dimension space. It is amenable to an efficient implementation displaying new convergence properties. Through an auxiliary variable , we rewrite the problem into a two‐order system. Then, the a priori error estimates are derived in L² norm and in the broken DG norm for both u and p. We prove that, when polynomials of degree r () are used, we obtain the optimal convergence rate of order r + 1 in L² norm and of order r in DG norm for u, and the order r in both norms for . The numerical experiments illustrate the theoretic order of convergence. For the purpose of adaptive finite element method, the a posteriori error estimators are also proposed and proved to field a sharp upper bound. We also provide numerical evidence that the error estimators and indicators can effectively drive the adaptive strategies. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 318–353, 2017     

Asymptotically exact a posteriori local discontinuous Galerkin error estimates for the one‐dimensional second‐order wave equation

In this article, we analyze a residual‐based a posteriori error estimates of the spatial errors for the semidiscrete local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) method applied to the one‐dimensional second‐order wave equation. These error estimates are computationally simple and are obtained by solving a local steady problem with no boundary condition on each element. We apply the optimal L² error estimates and the superconvergence results of Part I of this work [Baccouch, Numer Methods Partial Differential Equations 30 (2014), 862–901] to prove that, for smooth solutions, these a posteriori LDG error estimates for the solution and its spatial derivative, at a fixed time, converge to the true spatial errors in the L²‐norm under mesh refinement. The order of convergence is proved to be , when p‐degree piecewise polynomials with are used. As a consequence, we prove that the LDG method combined with the a posteriori error estimation procedure yields both accurate error estimates and superconvergent solutions. Our computational results show higher convergence rate. We further prove that the global effectivity indices, for both the solution and its derivative, in the L²‐norm converge to unity at rate while numerically they exhibit and rates, respectively. Numerical experiments are shown to validate the theoretical results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1461–1491, 2015     

Superconvergence of the local discontinuous galerkin method applied to the one‐dimensional second‐order wave equation

We analyze the superconvergence properties of the local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) method applied to the second‐order wave equation in one space dimension. With a suitable projection of the initial conditions for the LDG scheme, we prove that the LDG solution and its spatial derivative are super close to particular projections of the exact solutions for pth‐degree polynomial spaces. We use these results to show that the significant parts of the discretization errors for the LDG solution and its derivative are proportional to ‐degree right and left Radau polynomials, respectively. These results allow us to prove that the p‐degree LDG solution and its derivative are superconvergent at the roots of ‐degree right and left Radau polynomials, respectively, while computational results show higher convergence rate. Superconvergence results can be used to construct asymptotically correct a posteriori error estimates by solving a local steady problem on each element. This will be discussed further in Part II of this work, where we will prove that the a posteriori LDG error estimates for the solution and its derivative converge to the true spatial errors in the L ²‐norm under mesh refinement. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 862–901, 2014     

Superconvergence analysis of an energy stable scheme with three step backward differential formula-finite element method for nonlinear reaction–diffusion equation

A three step backward differential formula scheme is proposed for nonlinear reaction–diffusion equation and superconvergence results are studied with Galerkin finite element method unconditionally. Energy stability is testified for the constructed scheme with an artificial term. Splitting technique is utilized to get rid of the ratio between the time step size and the subdivision parameter . Temporal error estimate in H²-norm is derived, which leads to the boundedness of the solutions of the time-discrete equations. Unconditional spatial error estimate in L²-norm is deduced which help bound the numerical solutions in L^∞-norm. Superconvergent property of in H¹-norm with order is obtained by taking difference between two time levels of the error equations unconditionally. The global superconvergent property is deduced through the above results. Two numerical examples show the validity of the theoretical analysis.     

A finite element–finite volume discretization of convection‐diffusion‐reaction equations with nonhomogeneous mixedboundary conditions: Error estimates

We consider a time‐dependent and a steady linear convection‐diffusion‐reaction equation whose coefficients are nonconstant. Boundary conditions are mixed (Dirichlet and Robin–Neumann) and nonhomogeneous. Both the unsteady and the steady problem are approximately solved by a combined finite element–finite volume method: the diffusion term is discretized by Crouzeix–Raviart piecewise linear finite elements on a triangular grid, and the convection term by upwind barycentric finite volumes. In the unsteady case, the implicit Euler method is used as time discretization. The ‐ and the ‐error in the unsteady case and the H¹‐error in the steady one are estimated against the data, in such a way that no parameter enters exponentially into the constants involved. © 2016Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 1591–1621, 2016     

Superconvergence analysis of Crank‐Nicolson Galerkin FEMs for a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation

The purpose of this article is to apply nonconforming finite element(FE) to solve a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation. First, a new important property of nonconforming FE (see ( 2.3 ) of Lemma 2 below) is proved by use of BHX lemma and the integral identities techniques. Second, a linearized Crank‐Nicolson fully discrete scheme is constructed and the superclose error estimate of order for original variable u in broken H¹‐norm is also derived by using the properties of element and the splitting argument for nonlinear terms, while previous works always only obtain convergent error estimates with this element. Furthermore, the global superconvergence is arrived at by the interpolated postprocessing technique. Finally, two numerical experiments are provided to confirm the theoretical analysis. Here, h is the subdivision parameter and τ is the time step.     

A C0‐weak Galerkin finite element method for fourth‐order elliptic problems

This article proposes and analyzes a C⁰‐weak Galerkin (WG) finite element method for solving the biharmonic equation in two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional. The new WG method uses continuous piecewise‐polynomial approximations of degree for the unknown u and discontinuous piecewise‐polynomial approximations of degree k for the trace of on the interelement boundaries. Optimal error estimates are obtained in H², H¹, and L² norms. Numerical experiments illustrate and confirm the theoretical results. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 1090–1104, 2016     

Unconditional superconvergence analysis of an H1‐galerkin mixed finite element method for nonlinear Sobolev equations

An efficient H¹‐Galerkin mixed finite element method (MFEM) is presented with and zero order Raviart‐Thomas elements for the nonlinear Sobolev equations. On one hand, the existence and uniqueness of the solutions of the semidiscrete approximation scheme are proved and the super close results of order for the original variable u in a broken H¹ norm and the auxiliary variable in norm are deduced without the boundedness of the numerical solution in ‐norm. Conversely, a linearized Crank‐Nicolson fully discrete scheme with the unconditional super close property is also developed through a new approach, while previous literature always require certain time step conditions (see the references below). Finally, a numerical experiment is included to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Here h is the subdivision parameter and τ is the time step.     

New interpolation error estimates and a posteriori error analysis for linear parabolic interface problems

We derive residual‐based a posteriori error estimates of finite element method for linear parabolic interface problems in a two‐dimensional convex polygonal domain. Both spatially discrete and fully discrete approximations are analyzed. While the space discretization uses finite element spaces that are allowed to change in time, the time discretization is based on the backward Euler approximation. The main ingredients used in deriving a posteriori estimates are new Clément type interpolation estimates and an appropriate adaptation of the elliptic reconstruction technique introduced by (Makridakis and Nochetto, SIAM J Numer Anal 4 (2003), 1585–1594). We use only an energy argument to establish a posteriori error estimates with optimal order convergence in the ‐norm and almost optimal order in the ‐norm. The interfaces are assumed to be of arbitrary shape but are smooth for our purpose. Numerical results are presented to validate our derived estimators. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 570–598, 2017     

Error estimates of fully discrete finite element solutions for the 2D Cahn–Hilliard equation with infinite time horizon

In this article, we deal with a rigorous error analysis for the finite element solutions of the two‐dimensional Cahn–Hilliard equation with infinite time. The error estimates with respect to are proven for the fully discrete conforming piecewise linear element solution under Assumption (A1) on the initial value and Assumption (A2) on the discrete spectrum estimate in the finite element space. The analysis is based on sharp a‐priori estimates for the solutions, particularly reflecting their behavior as . Numerical experiments are carried out to support the theoretical analysis and demonstrate the efficiency of the fully discrete mixed finite element methods. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 742–762, 2017     

A linearized Crank–Nicolson–Galerkin FEM for the time‐dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations under the temporal gauge

We propose a decoupled and linearized fully discrete finite element method (FEM) for the time‐dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations under the temporal gauge, where a Crank–Nicolson scheme is used for the time discretization. By carefully designing the time‐discretization scheme, we manage to prove the convergence rate , where τ is the time‐step size and r is the degree of the finite element space. Due to the degeneracy of the problem, the convergence rate in the spatial direction is one order lower than the optimal convergence rate of FEMs for parabolic equations. Numerical tests are provided to support our error analysis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 1279–1290, 2014     

Local error estimates of the finite element method for an elliptic problem with a Dirac source term

The solutions of elliptic problems with a Dirac measure right‐hand side are not in dimension and therefore the convergence of the finite element solutions is suboptimal in the ‐norm. In this article, we address the numerical analysis of the finite element method for the Laplace equation with Dirac source term: we consider, in dimension 3, the Dirac measure along a curve and, in dimension 2, the punctual Dirac measure. The study of this problem is motivated by the use of the Dirac measure as a reduced model in physical problems, for which high accuracy of the finite element method at the singularity is not required. We show a quasioptimal convergence in the ‐norm, for on subdomains which exclude the singularity; in the particular case of Lagrange finite elements, an optimal convergence in ‐norm is shown on a family of quasiuniform meshes. Our results are obtained using local Nitsche and Schatz‐type error estimates, a weak version of Aubin‐Nitsche duality lemma and a discrete inf‐sup condition. These theoretical results are confirmed by numerical illustrations.     

High accuracy analysis of the characteristic‐nonconforming FEM for a convection‐dominated transport problem

A low order characteristic‐nonconforming finite element method is proposed for solving a two‐dimensional convection‐dominated transport problem. On the basis of the distinguish property of element, that is, the consistency error can be estimated as order O(h²), one order higher than that of its interpolation error, the superclose result in broken energy norm is derived for the fully discrete scheme. In the process, we use the interpolation operator instead of the so‐called elliptic projection, which is an indispensable tool in the traditional finite element analysis. Furthermore, the global superconvergence is obtained by using the interpolated postprocessing technique. Lastly, some numerical experiments are provided to verify our theoretical analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Convergence of goal‐oriented adaptive finite element methods for nonsymmetric problems

In this article, we develop convergence theory for a class of goal‐oriented adaptive finite element algorithms for second‐order nonsymmetric linear elliptic equations. In particular, we establish contraction results for a method of this type for Dirichlet problems involving the elliptic operator with A Lipschitz, symmetric positive definite, with b divergence‐free, and with . We first describe the problem class and review some standard facts concerning conforming finite element discretization and error‐estimate‐driven adaptive finite element methods (AFEM). We then describe a goal‐oriented variation of standard AFEM. Following the recent work of Mommer and Stevenson for symmetric problems, we establish contraction and convergence of the goal‐oriented method in the sense of the goal function. Our analysis approach is signficantly different from that of Mommer and Stevenson, combining the recent contraction frameworks developed by Cascon, Kreuzer, Nochetto, and Siebert; by Nochetto, Siebert, and Veeser; and by Holst, Tsogtgerel, and Zhu. We include numerical results, demonstrating performance of our method with standard goal‐oriented strategies on a convection problem. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 479–509, 2016