A second order finite difference error indicator for adaptive transonic flow computations

Summary. An adaptive finite element method for the calculation of transonic potential flows was developed. An error indicator based on first order finite differences of gradients is introduced as a local error estimator. It measures second order distributional derivatives. Estimates involving this error estimator, a residual and the error are given. The error estimator can be used as a criterion for mesh refinement. We also give some computational results. Received September 16, 1993 / Revised version received June 7, 1994