A dual-dual mixed formulation for nonlinear exterior transmission problems

We combine a dual-mixed finite element method with a Dirichlet-to-Neumann mapping (derived by the boundary integral equation method) to study the solvability and Galerkin approximations of a class of exterior nonlinear transmission problems in the plane. As a model problem, we consider a nonlinear elliptic equation in divergence form coupled with the Laplace equation in an unbounded region of the plane. Our combined approach leads to what we call a dual-dual mixed variational formulation since the main operator involved has itself a dual-type structure. We establish existence and uniqueness of solution for the continuous and discrete formulations, and provide the corresponding error analysis by using Raviart-Thomas elements. The main tool of our analysis is given by a generalization of the usual Babuska-Brezzi theory to a class of nonlinear variational problems with constraints.