Guaranteed error bounds for finite element approximations of noncoercive elliptic problems and their applications

In this paper, we discuss with guaranteed a priori and a posteriori error estimates of finite element approximations for not necessarily coercive linear second order Dirichlet problems. Here, ‘guaranteed’ means we can get the error bounds in which all constants included are explicitly given or represented as a numerically computable form. Using the invertibility condition of concerning elliptic operator, guaranteed a priori and a posteriori error estimates are formulated. This kind of estimates plays essential and important roles in the numerical verification of solutions for nonlinear elliptic problems. Several numerical examples that confirm the actual effectiveness of the method are presented.     

On indefinite superlinear elliptic equations

This paper concerns semilinear elliptic equations of the form – u+m(x)u=a(x)u ^p , wherea changes sign. We discuss the question of existence of positive solutions when the linear part is not coercive.This article was processed by the author using the LATEX style file pljourlm from Springer-Verlag.     

Solutions concentrating on higher dimensional subsets for singularly perturbed elliptic equations II

We construct spike layered solutions for the semilinear elliptic equation −ε²Δu+V(x)u=K(x)up−1 on a domain Ω⊂RN which may be bounded or unbounded. The solutions concentrate simultaneously on a finite number of m-dimensional spheres in Ω. These spheres accumulate as ε→0 at a prescribed sphere in Ω whose location is determined by the potential functions V,K.     

On general boundary-value problems for nonlinear elliptic equations of second order in a multiply connected plane domain

This paper deals with some general irregular oblique derivative problems for nonlinear uniformly elliptic equations of second order in a multiply connected plane domain. Firstly, we state the well-posedness of a new set of modified boundary conditions. Secondly, we verify the existence of solutions of the modified boundary-value problem for harmonic functions, and then prove the solvability of the modified problem for nonlinear elliptic equations, which includes the original boundary-value problem (i.e. boundary conditions without involving undertermined functions data). Here, mainly, the location of the zeros of analytic functions, a priori estimates for solutions and the continuity method are used in deriving all these results. Furthermore, the present approach and setting seems to be new and different from what has been employed before.The research was partially supported by a UPGC Grant of Hong Kong.     

Boundary behavior of large solutions to semilinear elliptic equations with nonlinear gradient terms

In this paper, we study the boundary behavior of solutions to boundary blow-up elliptic problems , where Ω is a bounded domain with smooth boundary in R^N, q>0, , which is positive in Ω and may be vanishing on the boundary and rapidly varying near the boundary, and f is rapidly varying or normalized regularly varying at infinity.     

On semilinear elliptic equations with indefinite nonlinearities

This paper concerns semilinear elliptic equations whose nonlinear term has the formW(x)f(u) whereW changes sign. We study the existence of positive solutions and their multiplicity. The important role played by the negative part ofW is contained in a condition which is shown to be necessary for homogeneousf. More general existence questions are also discussed.Supported in part by NSF grant DMS9003149.     

Alexandroff-Bakelman-Pucci estimate and Harnack inequality for degenerate/singular fully non-linear elliptic equations

In this paper, we study fully non-linear elliptic equations in non-divergence form which can be degenerate or singular when “the gradient is small”. Typical examples are either equations involving the m-Laplace operator or Bellman-Isaacs equations from stochastic control problems. We establish an Alexandroff-Bakelman-Pucci estimate and we prove a Harnack inequality for viscosity solutions of such non-linear elliptic equations.     

Bubble towers for supercritical semilinear elliptic equations

We construct positive solutions of the semilinear elliptic problem with Dirichet boundary conditions, in a bounded smooth domain Ω⊂R^N(N?4), when the exponent p is supercritical and close enough to and the parameter λ∈R is small enough. As , the solutions have multiple blow up at finitely many points which are the critical points of a function whose definition involves Green's function. Our result extends the result of Del Pino et al. (J. Differential Equations 193(2) (2003) 280) when Ω is a ball and the solutions are radially symmetric.     

Smoothness of generalized solutions for higher-order elliptic equations with nonlocal boundary conditions

The smoothness of generalized solutions for higher-order elliptic equations with nonlocal boundary conditions is studied in plane domains. Necessary and sufficient conditions upon the right-hand side of the problem and nonlocal operators under which the generalized solutions possess an appropriate smoothness are established.     

Optimal boundary regularity for nonlinear singular elliptic equations

In this paper we prove the optimal boundary regularity under natural structural conditions for a large class of nonlinear elliptic equations with singular terms near the boundary. By a careful construction of super- and sub-solutions, we obtain precise growth estimates for solutions at the boundary and reduce the boundary regularity to the interior one by a rescaling argument.     

On the comparison of error bounds for finite difference schemes

Summary In 1968 Sendov and Korovkin independently introduced the -modulus as a new measure for the smoothness of functions which already has found various applications in approximation theory and numerical analysis. Here it is employed to derive sharp error bounds for the approximate solution of linear two-point boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations. These indeed improve corresponding estimates in terms of ordinary (L -) moduli of continuity. Finally, the effect is also discussed in the light of a quantitative resonance theorem.     

Comparison principle for some classes of nonlinear elliptic equations

We prove a comparison principle for second order quasilinear elliptic operators in divergence form when a first order term appears. We deduce uniqueness results for weak solutions to Dirichlet problems when data belong to the natural dual space.     

A priori estimate for non-uniform elliptic equations

A priori estimate for non-uniform elliptic equations with periodic boundary conditions is concerned. The domain considered consists of two sub-regions, a connected high permeability region and a disconnected matrix block region with low permeability. Let ? denote the size ratio of one matrix block to the whole domain. It is shown that in the connected high permeability sub-region, the Hölder and the Lipschitz estimates of the non-uniform elliptic solutions are bounded uniformly in ?. But Hölder gradient estimate and Lp estimate of the second order derivatives of the solutions in general are not bounded uniformly in ?.     

Free boundary and mixed boundary value problems for quasilinear elliptic equations: tangential oblique derivative and degenerate Dirichlet boundary problems

We present Hölder estimates and Hölder gradient estimates for a class of free boundary problems with tangential oblique derivative boundary conditions provided the oblique vector β does not vanish at any point on the boundary. We also establish the existence result for a general class of quasilinear degenerate problems of this type including nonlinear wave systems and the unsteady transonic small disturbance equation.     

Semilinear elliptic equations admitting similarity transformations

In this paper we study the equation −Δu+ρ^−(α+2)h(ρ^αu)=0$-\mathrm{\Delta }u+{\rho }^{-(\alpha +2)}h({\rho }^{\alpha }u)=0$ in a smooth bounded domain Ω   where ρ(x)=dist(x,∂Ω)$\rho (x)=\mathrm{dist}(x,\partial \Omega )$, α>0$\alpha >0$ and h is a nondecreasing function which satisfies Keller–Osserman condition. We introduce a condition on h which implies that the equation is subcritical, i.e., the corresponding boundary value problem is well posed with respect to data given by finite measures. Under additional assumptions on h we show that this condition is necessary as well as sufficient. We also discuss b.v. problems with data given by positive unbounded measures. Our results extend results of [13] treating equations of the form −Δu+ρ^βu^q=0$-\mathrm{\Delta }u+{\rho }^{\beta }{u}^q=0$ with q>1$q>1$, β>−2$\beta >-2$.     

A unifying theory of a posteriori error control for nonconforming finite element methods

Residual-based a posteriori error estimates were derived within one unifying framework for lowest-order conforming, nonconforming, and mixed finite element schemes in Carstensen [Numer Math 100:617–637, 2005]. Therein, the key assumption is that the conforming first-order finite element space annulates the linear and bounded residual ℓ written . That excludes particular nonconforming finite element methods (NCFEMs) on parallelograms in that . The present paper generalises the aforementioned theory to more general situations to deduce new a posteriori error estimates, also for mortar and discontinuous Galerkin methods. The key assumption is the existence of some bounded linear operator with some elementary properties. It is conjectured that the more general hypothesis (H1)–(H3) can be established for all known NCFEMs. Applications on various nonstandard finite element schemes for the Laplace, Stokes, and Navier–Lamé equations illustrate the presented unifying theory of a posteriori error control for NCFEM. Supported by DFG Research Center MATHEON “Mathematics for key technologies” in Berlin and the German Indian Project DST-DAAD (PPP-05). J. Hu was partially supported by National Science Foundation of China under Grant No.10601003.     

Nonlinear eigenvalues for anisotropic quasilinear degenerate elliptic equations

We consider the Dirichlet problem for a class of anisotropic degenerate elliptic equations.     

Multiple solutions for a class of elliptic equations with jumping nonlinearities

We consider a semilinear elliptic Dirichlet problem with jumping nonlinearity and, using variational methods, we show that the number of solutions tends to infinity as the number of jumped eigenvalues tends to infinity. In order to prove this fact, for every positive integer k we prove that, when a parameter is large enough, there exists a solution which presents k interior peaks. We also describe the asymptotic behaviour and the profile of this solution as the parameter tends to infinity.