Error estimates of finite volume element method for the pollution in groundwater flow

In this article, we study the finite volume element methods for numerical solution of the pollution in groundwater flow in a two‐dimensional convex polygonal domain. These type flow are uniform transport in a fully saturated incompressible porous media, which may be anisotropic with respect to hydraulic conductivity, but features a direction independent of dispersivity. A fully finite volume scheme is analyzed in this article. The discretization is defined via a planar mesh consisting of piecewise triangles. Optimal order error estimates in H¹ and L² norms are obtained. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2009     

A priori error estimates for finite element methods with numerical quadrature for nonmonotone nonlinear elliptic problems

The effect of numerical quadrature in finite element methods for solving quasilinear elliptic problems of nonmonotone type is studied. Under similar assumption on the quadrature formula as for linear problems, optimal error estimates in the L ² and the H ¹ norms are proved. The numerical solution obtained from the finite element method with quadrature formula is shown to be unique for a sufficiently fine mesh. The analysis is valid for both simplicial and rectangular finite elements of arbitrary order. Numerical experiments corroborate the theoretical convergence rates.     

A layer adaptive B‐spline collocation method for singularly perturbed one‐dimensional parabolic problem with a boundary turning point

In this article, we develop a parameter uniform numerical method for a class of singularly perturbed parabolic equations with a multiple boundary turning point on a rectangular domain. The coefficient of the first derivative with respect to x is given by the formula a₀(x, t)x^p, where a₀(x, t) ≥ α > 0 and the parameter p ∈ [1,∞) takes the arbitrary value. For small values of the parameter ε, the solution of this particular class of problem exhibits the parabolic boundary layer in a neighborhood of the boundary x = 0 of the domain. We use the implicit Euler method to discretize the temporal variable on uniform mesh and a B‐spline collocation method defined on piecewise uniform Shishkin mesh to discretize the spatial variable. Asymptotic bounds for the derivatives of the solution are established by decomposing the solution into smooth and singular component. These bounds are applied in the convergence analysis of the proposed scheme on Shishkin mesh. The resulting method is boundary layer resolving and has been shown almost second‐order accurate in space and first‐order accurate in time. It is also shown that the proposed method is uniformly convergent with respect to the singular perturbation parameter ε. Some numerical results are given to confirm the predicted theory and comparison of numerical results made with a scheme consisting of a standard upwind finite difference operator on a piecewise uniform Shishkin mesh. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 27: 1143–1164, 2011     

Graded mesh refinement and error estimates of higher order for DGFE solutions of elliptic boundary value problems in polygons

Error estimates for DGFE solutions are well investigated if one assumes that the exact solution is sufficiently regular. In this article, we consider a Dirichlet and a mixed boundary value problem for a linear elliptic equation in a polygon. It is well known that the first derivatives of the solutions develop singularities near reentrant corner points or points where the boundary conditions change. On the basis of the regularity results formulated in Sobolev–Slobodetskii spaces and weighted spaces of Kondratiev type, we prove error estimates of higher order for DGFE solutions using a suitable graded mesh refinement near boundary singular points. The main tools are as follows: regularity investigation for the exact solution relying on general results for elliptic boundary value problems, error analysis for the interpolation in Sobolev–Slobodetskii spaces, and error estimates for DGFE solutions on special graded refined meshes combined with estimates in weighted Sobolev spaces. Our main result is that there exist a local grading of the mesh and a piecewise interpolation by polynoms of higher degree such that we will get the same order O (h^α) of approximation as in the smooth case. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Mehods Partial Differential Eq, 2012     

Superconvergence and a posteriori error estimates of RT1 mixed methods for elliptic control problems with an integral constraint

In this paper, we investigate the superconvergence property and a posteriori error estimates of mixed finite element methods for a linear elliptic control problem with an integral constraint. The state and co-state are approximated by the order k = 1 Raviart-Thomas mixed finite element spaces and the control variable is approximated by piecewise constant functions. Approximations of the optimal control of the continuous optimal control problem will be constructed by a projection of the discrete adjoint state. It is proved that these approximations have convergence order h ². Moreover, we derive a posteriori error estimates both for the control variable and the state variables. Finally, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the theoretical results.     

Grid approximation of a parabolic convection-diffusion equation on a priori adapted grids: ε-uniformly convergent schemes

The boundary value problem for a singularly perturbed parabolic convection-diffusion equation is considered. A finite difference scheme on a priori (sequentially) adapted grids is constructed and its convergence is examined. The construction of the scheme on a priori adapted grids is based on a majorant of the singular component of the grid solution that makes it possible to a priori find a subdomain in which the grid solution should be further refined given the perturbation parameter ε, the size of the uniform mesh in x, the desired accuracy of the grid solution, and the prescribed number of iterations K used to refine the solution. In the subdomains where the solution is refined, the grid problems are solved on uniform grids. The error of the solution thus constructed weakly depends on ε. The scheme converges almost ε-uniformly; namely, it converges under the condition N ^?1 = o(ε^v), where v = v(K) can be chosen arbitrarily small when K is sufficiently large. If a piecewise uniform grid is used instead of a uniform one at the final Kth iteration, the difference scheme converges ε-uniformly. For this piecewise uniform grid, the ratio of the mesh sizes in x on the parts of the mesh with a constant size (outside the boundary layer and inside it) is considerably less than that for the known ε-uniformly convergent schemes on piecewise uniform grids.     

Boundary difference-integral equation method and its error estimates for second order hyperbolic partial differential equation

Combining difference method and boundary integral equation method, we propose a new numerical method for solving initial-boundary value problem of second order hyperbolic partial differential equations defined on a bounded or unbounded domain inR ³ and obtain the error estimates of the approximate solution in energy norm and local maximum norm.China State Major Key Project for Basic Researches.     

New a posteriori L∞(L2) and L2(L2)-error estimates of mixed finite element methods for general nonlinear parabolic optimal control problems

We study new a posteriori error estimates of the mixed finite element methods for general optimal control problems governed by nonlinear parabolic equations. The state and the co-state are discretized by the high order Raviart-Thomas mixed finite element spaces and the control is approximated by piecewise constant functions. We derive a posteriori error estimates in L^∞(J; L²Ω)-norm and L²(J; L²Ω)-norm for both the state, the co-state and the control approximation. Such estimates, which seem to be new, are an important step towards developing a reliable adaptive mixed finite element approximation for optimal control problems. Finally, the performance of the posteriori error estimators is assessed by two numerical examples.     

An adaptive strategy for elliptic problems including a posteriori controlled boundary approximation

We derive a posteriori error estimates for the approximation of linear elliptic problems on domains with piecewise smooth boundary. The numerical solution is assumed to be defined on a Finite Element mesh, whose boundary vertices are located on the boundary of the continuous problem. No assumption is made on a geometrically fitting shape.

A posteriori error estimates are given in the energy norm and the -norm, and efficiency of the adaptive algorithm is proved in the case of a saturated boundary approximation. Furthermore, a strategy is presented to compute the effect of the non-discretized part of the domain on the error starting from a coarse mesh. This especially implies that parts of the domain, where the measured error is small, stay non-discretized. The presented algorithm includes a stable path following to supply a sufficient polygonal approximation of the boundary, the reliable computation of the a posteriori estimates and a mesh adaptation based on Delaunay techniques. Numerical examples illustrate that errors outside the initial discretization will be detected.

     

Optimal l~∞ error estimates of finite difference methods for the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations in high dimensions

Due to the difficulty in obtaining the a priori estimate,it is very hard to establish the optimal point-wise error bound of a finite difference scheme for solving a nonlinear partial differential equation in high dimensions(2D or 3D).We here propose and analyze finite difference methods for solving the coupled GrossPitaevskii equations in two dimensions,which models the two-component Bose-Einstein condensates with an internal atomic Josephson junction.The methods which we considered include two conservative type schemes and two non-conservative type schemes.Discrete conservation laws and solvability of the schemes are analyzed.For the four proposed finite difference methods,we establish the optimal convergence rates for the error at the order of O(h~2+τ~2)in the l~∞-norm(i.e.,the point-wise error estimates)with the time stepτand the mesh size h.Besides the standard techniques of the energy method,the key techniques in the analysis is to use the cut-off function technique,transformation between the time and space direction and the method of order reduction.All the methods and results here are also valid and can be easily extended to the three-dimensional case.Finally,numerical results are reported to confirm our theoretical error estimates for the numerical methods.     

Error Estimates for Barycentric Finite Volumes Combined with Nonconforming Finite Elements Applied to Nonlinear Convection-Diffusion Problems

The subject of the paper is the derivation of error estimates for the combined finite volume-finite element method used for the numerical solution of nonstationary nonlinear convection-diffusion problems. Here we analyze the combination of barycentric finite volumes associated with sides of triangulation with the piecewise linear nonconforming Crouzeix-Raviart finite elements. Under some assumptions on the regularity of the exact solution, the L ²(L ²) and L ²(H ¹) error estimates are established. At the end of the paper, some computational results are presented demonstrating the application of the method to the solution of viscous gas flow.     

A superconvergent local discontinuous Galerkin method for nonlinear two-point boundary-value problems

In this paper, we present and analyze a superconvergent and high order accurate local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) method for nonlinear two-point boundary-value problems (BVPs) of the form u ^″ = f (t, u), which arise in a wide variety of engineering applications. We prove the L ² stability of the LDG scheme and optimal L ² error estimates for the solution and for the auxiliary variable that approximates the first-order derivative. The order of convergence is proved to be p +?1, when piecewise polynomials of degree at most p are used. Our numerical experiments demonstrate optimal rates of convergence. Moreover, we show that the derivatives of the LDG solutions are superconvergent with order p +?1 toward the derivatives of Gausss-Radau projections of the exact solutions. Finally, we prove that the LDG solutions are superconvergent with order p +?3/2 toward Gauss-Radau projections of the exact solutions. Our computational results indicate that the observed numerical superconvergence rate is p +?2. Our proofs are valid for arbitrary regular meshes using piecewise polynomials of degree p ≥?1 and for the periodic, Dirichlet, and mixed boundary conditions. All proofs are valid under the hypotheses of the existence and uniqueness theorem for BVPs. Several numerical results are presented to validate the theoretical results.     

Numerical methods for 2D weakly singular Volterra integral equations of the second kind

The paper is dedicated to the numerical solution of 2D weakly singular Volterra integral equations with two different kernels. In order to weaken a singularity influence on the numerical computations we transform these equations in both cases into equivalent equations. The piecewise polynomial approximation of the exact solution is then applied. For numerical computing of weakly singular integrals we construct the special Gauss-type cubature formula based on a nonuniform grid. Also we suggest the practical mesh which is less nonuniform than standard graded mesh tk = (k/N)^{r /(1–α)} T, and at the same time it gives an equivalent approximation error for the functions from C^r,α (0, T ]. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

B-spline collocation for solution of two-point boundary value problems

A numerical method based on B-spline is developed to solve the general nonlinear two-point boundary value problems up to order 6. The standard formulation of sextic spline for the solution of boundary value problems leads to non-optimal approximations. In order to derive higher orders of accuracy, high order perturbations of the problem are generated and applied to construct the numerical algorithm. The error analysis and convergence properties of the method are studied via Green’s function approach. O(h⁶) global error estimates are obtained for numerical solution of these classes of problems. Numerical results are given to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method. Results of numerical experiments verify the theoretical behavior of the orders of convergence.     

A singular perturbation approach to solve Burgers–Huxley equation via monotone finite difference scheme on layer-adaptive mesh

This paper deals with a numerical method for solving one-dimensional unsteady Burgers–Huxley equation with the viscosity coefficient ε. The parameter ε takes any values from the half open interval (0, 1]. At small values of the parameter ε, an outflow boundary layer is produced in the neighborhood of right part of the lateral surface of the domain and the problem can be considered as a non-linear singularly perturbed problem with a singular perturbation parameter ε. Using singular perturbation analysis, asymptotic bounds for the derivatives of the solution are established by decomposing the solution into smooth and singular components. We construct a numerical scheme that comprises of implicit-Euler method to discretize in temporal direction on uniform mesh and a monotone hybrid finite difference operator to discretize the spatial variable with piecewise uniform Shishkin mesh. To obtain better accuracy, we use central finite difference scheme in the boundary layer region. Shishkin meshes are refined in the boundary layer region, therefore stability constraint is satisfied by proposed scheme. Quasilinearization process is used to tackle the non-linearity and it is shown that quasilinearization process converges quadratically. The method has been shown to be first order uniformly accurate in the temporal variable, and in the spatial direction it is first order parameter uniform convergent in the outside region of boundary layer, and almost second order parameter uniform convergent in the boundary layer region. Accuracy and uniform convergence of the proposed method is demonstrated by numerical examples and comparison of numerical results made with the other existing methods.     

Superconvergence of the direct discontinuous Galerkin method for a time‐fractional initial‐boundary value problem

A time‐fractional reaction–diffusion initial‐boundary value problem with periodic boundary condition is considered on Q ? Ω × [0, T] , where Ω is the interval [0, l] . Typical solutions of such problem have a weak singularity at the initial time t = 0. The numerical method of the paper uses a direct discontinuous Galerkin (DDG) finite element method in space on a uniform mesh, with piecewise polynomials of degree k ≥ 2 . In the temporal direction we use the L1 approximation of the Caputo derivative on a suitably graded mesh. We prove that at each time level of the mesh, our L1‐DDG solution is superconvergent of order k + 2 in L²(Ω) to a particular projection of the exact solution. Moreover, the L1‐DDG solution achieves superconvergence of order (k + 2) in a discrete L²(Q) norm computed at the Lobatto points, and order (k + 1) superconvergence in a discrete H¹(Q) seminorm at the Gauss points; numerical results show that these estimates are sharp.     

A fourth‐order H1‐Galerkin mixed finite element method for Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation

A H¹‐Galerkin mixed finite element method is applied to the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation by using a splitting technique, which results in a coupled system. The method described in this article may also be considered as a Petrov–Galerkin method with cubic spline space as trial space and piecewise linear space as test space, since the second derivative of a cubic spline is a linear spline. Optimal‐order error estimates are obtained without any restriction on the mesh for both semi‐discrete and fully discrete schemes. The advantage of this method over that presented in Manickam et al., Comput. Math. Appl. vol. 35(6) (1998) pp. 5–25; for the same problem is that the size (i.e., (n + 1) × (n + 1)) of each resulting linear system is less than half of the size of the linear system of the earlier method, where n is the number of subintervals in the partition. Further, there is a requirement of less regularity on exact solution in this method. The results are validated with numerical examples. Finally, instability behavior of the solution is numerically captured with this method.     

Error estimates for finite volume element methods for general second‐order elliptic problems

We treat the finite volume element method (FVE) for solving general second order elliptic problems as a perturbation of the linear finite element method (FEM), and obtain the optimal H¹ error estimate, H¹ superconvergence and L^p (1 < p ≤ ∞) error estimates between the solution of the FVE and that of the FEM. In particular, the superconvergence result does not require any extra assumptions on the mesh except quasi‐uniform. Thus the error estimates of the FVE can be derived by the standard error estimates of the FEM. Moreover we consider the effects of numerical integration and prove that the use of barycenter quadrature rule does not decrease the convergence orders of the FVE. The results of this article reveal that the FVE is in close relationship with the FEM. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 693–708, 2003.     

A posteriori error estimation with finite element methods of lines for one-dimensional parabolic systems

Summary Consider the solution of one-dimensional linear initial-boundary value problems by a finite element method of lines using a piecewiseP ^th -degree polynomial basis. A posteriori estimates of the discretization error are obtained as the solutions of either local parabolic or local elliptic finite element problems using piecewise polynomial corrections of degreep+1 that vanish at element ends. Error estimates computed in this manner are shown to converge in energy under mesh refinement to the exact finite element discretization error. Computational results indicate that the error estimates are robust over a wide range of mesh spacings and polynomial degrees and are, furthermore, applicable in situations that are not supported by the analysis.This research was partially supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Systems Command, USAF, under Grant Number AFOSR 90-0194; by the U.S. Army Research Office under Contract Number DAAL03-91-G-0215; and by the National Science Foundation under Institutional Infrastructure Grant Number CDA-8805910     

A parameter‐uniform scheme for the parabolic singularly perturbed problem with a delay in time

In this paper, a parameter‐uniform numerical scheme for the solution of singularly perturbed parabolic convection–diffusion problems with a delay in time defined on a rectangular domain is suggested. The presence of the small diffusion parameter ? leads to a parabolic right boundary layer. A collocation method consisting of cubic B ‐spline basis functions on an appropriate piecewise‐uniform mesh is used to discretize the system of ordinary differential equations obtained by using Rothe's method on an equidistant mesh in the temporal direction. The parameter‐uniform convergence of the method is shown by establishing the theoretical error bounds. The numerical results of the test problems validate the theoretical error bounds.