Point systems with extremal properties and conformal mapping

Summary LetD be the unit disk. It is a well-known fact that by use of simply connected domain methods the general conformal mapping problem of doubly connected domains can be reduced to the special case of a regionD bounded by the unit circle and a Jordan curve inD, where . Here we treat this special case and assume to be piecewise analytic without cusps. Let be the conformal mapping of {<|w|<1} onto the doubly connected domainD with (1)=1. We approximate by interpolation with finite Laurent series using point systems with extremal properties. Numerical results for four examples are given.     

A constructive method for starlike harmonic mappings

Summary The idea initiated by Opfer for constructing conformal mappings from the disk onto starlike domains is generalized for univalent harmonic mappings. This is of some interest, since such mappings are not characterized by analytic means.This work was supported in partsby a Promotion of Research Grant from the TECHNION, Haifaby an Undergraduate Student Research A ward from the NSERCby grants from the NSERC and the FCAR     

A least squares method for finding the preisach hysteresis operator from measurements

Summary A finite element like least squares method is introduced for determining the density function in the Preisach hysteresis model from overdeterined measured data. It is shown that the least squares error depends on the quality of the data and the best approximations to the analytic density. For consistent data criteria are given for convergence of the approximate density and Preisach operator with increasing measurements.Dedicated to Günther Hämmerlin on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

The treatment of nonhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions by thep-version of the finite element method

Summary The paper addresses the problem of the implementation of nonhomogeneous essential Dirichlet type boundary conditions in thep-version of the finite element method.Partially supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant N-00014-85-K-0169Research partially supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Systems Command, USAF, under Grant Number AFOSR 85-0322     

Discretization of the Timoshenko Beam problem by thep and theh-p versions of the finite element method

Summary In this paper the discretization of the Timoshenko Beam problem by thep and theh-p versions of the finite element method is considered. Optimal error estimates are established. The locking phenomenon disappears as the thickness of the beam decreases.     

A generalization of Arcangeli's method for ill-posed problems leading to optimal rates

Schock (1984) considered a general a posteriori parameter choice strategy for the regularization of ill-posed problems which provide nearly the optimal rate of convergence. We improve the result of Schock and give a class of parameter choice strategies leading to optimal rates As a particular case we prove that the Arcangeli's method do give optimal rate of convergence.     

Analysis of the Kleiser-Schumann method

Summary The Kleiser-Schumann algorithm for the approximation of the Stokes problem by Fourier/Legendre polynomials is analized. Stability when the degree of the polynomials increases is established, whereas error estimates in Sobolev spaces are proven.The research of this author has been partially supported by the U.S. Army through its European Research Office under contract No. DAJA-84-C-0035     

Stability and convergence properties of Bergman kernel methods for numerical conformal mapping

Summary In this paper we study the stability and convergence properties of Bergman kernel methods, for the numerical conformal mapping of simply and doubly-connected domains. In particular, by using certain wellknown results of Carleman, we establish a characterization of the level of instability in the methods, in terms of the geometry of the domain under consideration. We also explain how certain known convergence results can provide some theoretical justification of the observed improvement in accuracy which is achieved by the methods, when the basis set used contains functions that reflect the main singular behaviour of the conformal map.     

A particle method to solve the Navier-Stokes system

Summary We extend to the case of the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, a particle method introduced in a previous paper to solve linear convection-diffusion equations. The method is based on a viscous splitting of the operator. The particles move under the effect of the velocity field but are not affected by the diffusion which is taken into account by the weights. We prove the stability and the convergence of the method.     

Convergence and nonlinear stability of the Lagrange-Galerkin method for the Navier-Stokes equations

Summary The Lagrange-Galerkin method is a numerical technique for solving convection — dominated diffusion problems, based on combining a special discretisation of the Lagrangian material derivative along particle trajectories with a Galerkin finite element method. We present optimal error estimates for the Lagrange-Galerkin mixed finite element approximation of the Navier-Stokes equations in a velocity/pressure formulation. The method is shown to be nonlinearly stable.     

A second order splitting method for the Cahn-Hilliard equation

Summary A semi-discrete finite element method requiring only continuous element is presented for the approximation of the solution of the evolutionary, fourth order in space, Cahn-Hilliard equation. Optimal order error bounds are derived in various norms for an implementation which uses mass lumping. The continuous problem has an energy based Lyapunov functional. It is proved that this property holds for the discrete problem.Research partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-8896141     

Compactness method in the finite element theory of nonlinear elliptic problems

Summary Finite element approximation of a nonlinear elliptic pseudomonotone second-order boundary value problem in a bounded nonpolygonal domain with mixed Dirichlet-Neumann boundary conditions is studied. In the discretization we approximate the domain by a polygonal one, use linear conforming triangular elements and evaluate integrals by numerical quadratures. We prove the solvability of the discrete problem and on the basis of compactness properties of the corresponding operator (which is not monotone in general) we prove the convergence of approximate solutions to an exact weak solutionuH ¹ ). No additional assumption on the regularity of the exact solution is needed.     

The use of splines and singular functions in an integral equation method for conformal mapping

Summary We consider the integral equation method of Symm for the conformal mapping of simply-connected domains. For the numerical solution, we examine the use of spline functions of various degrees for the approximation of the source density . In particular, we consider ways for overcoming the difficulties associated with corner singularities. For this we modify the spline approximation and in the neighborhood of each corner, where a boundary singularity occurs, we approximate by a function which reflects the main singular behaviour of the source density. The singular functions are then blended with the splines, which approximate on the remainder of the boundary, so that the global approximating function has continuity of appropriate order at the transition points between the two types of approximation. We show, by means of numerical examples, that such approximations overcome the difficulties associated with corner singularities and lead to numerical results of high accuracy.     

Theh,p andh-p versions of the finite element method in 1 dimension

Summary This paper is the first one in the series of three which are addressing in detail the properties of the three basic versions of the finite element method in the one dimensional setting The main emphasis is placed on the analysis when the (exact) solution has singularity of x-type. The first part analyzes thep-version, the second theh-version and generalh-p version and the final third part addresses the problems of the adaptiveh-p version.Supported by the NSF Grant DMS-8315216Partially supported by ONR Contract N00014-85-K-0169     

On the boundary element method for some nonlinear boundary value problems

Summary Here we analyse the boundary element Galerkin method for two-dimensional nonlinear boundary value problems governed by the Laplacian in an interior (or exterior) domain and by highly nonlinear boundary conditions. The underlying boundary integral operator here can be decomposed into the sum of a monotoneous Hammerstein operator and a compact mapping. We show stability and convergence by using Leray-Schauder fixed-point arguments due to Petryshyn and Neas.Using properties of the linearised equations, we can also prove quasioptimal convergence of the spline Galerkin approximations.This work was carried out while the first author was visiting the University of Stuttgart     

L 2 estimates for the finite element method for the Dirichlet problem with singular data

Summary In this paper we consider the approximation by the finite element method of second order elliptic problems on convex domains and homogeneous Dirichlet condition on the boundary. In these problems the data are Borel measures. Using a quasiuniform mesh of finite elements and polynomials of degree 1, we prove that in two dimensions the convergence is of orderh inL ² and in three dimensions of orderh ^1/2.     

Total flux estimates for a finite element approximation of the Dirichlet problem using the boundary penalty method

Summary This paper considers a fully practical piecewise linear finite element approximation of the Dirichlet problem for a second order self-adjoint elliptic equation,Au=f, in a smooth region< ⁿ (n=2 or 3) by the boundary penalty method. Using an unfitted mesh; that is ^h , an approximation of with dist (, ^h )Ch ² is not in general a union of elements; and assuminguH ⁴ () we show that one can recover the total flux across a segment of the boundary of with an error ofO(h ²⁾. We use these results to study a fully practical piecewise linear finite element approximation of an elliptic equation by the boundary penalty method when the prescribed data on part of the boundary is the total flux.Supported by a SERC research studentship     

Some observations on the distribution of values of continued fractions

Summary There have been many studies of the values taken on by continued fractionsK(a _n /1) when its elements are all in a prescribed setE. The set of all values taken on is the limit regionV(E). It has been conjectured that the values inV(E), are taken on with varying probabilities even when the elementsa _n are uniformly distributed overE. In this article, we present the first concrete evidence that this is indeed so. We consider two types of element regions: (A)E is an interval on the real axis. Our best results are for intervals [–(1–), (1–)], 0 <1/2. (B)E is a disk in the complex plane defined byE={z:|z|(1–)}., 0<1/2.     

On an iterative method for variational inequalities

Summary A number of numerical solutions are presented as examples of a new iterative method for variational inequalities. The iterative method is based on the reduction of variational inequalities to the Wiener-Hopf equations. For obstacle problems the convergence is guaranteed inW ^1,p spaces forp2. The examples presented are one and two dimensional obstacle problems in cases when the Greens function is known, but the method is very general.     

A globalization scheme for the generalized Gauss-Newton method

Summary For solving an equality constrained nonlinear least squares problem, a globalization scheme for the generalized Gauss-Newton method via damping is proposed. The stepsize strategy is based on a special exact penalty function. Under natural conditions the global convergence of the algorithm is proved. Moreover, if the algorithm converges to a solution having a sufficiently small residual, the algorithm is shown to change automatically into the undamped generalized Gauss-Newton method with a fast linear rate of convergence. The behaviour of the method is demonstrated on hand of some examples taken from the literature.