Characterization of the Existence of an Enriched Linear Finite Element Approximation Using Biorthogonal Systems

The present paper is intended to give a characterization of the existence of an enriched linear finite element approximation based on biorthogonal systems. It is shown that the enriched element exists if and only if a certain multivariate generalized trapezoidal type cubature formula has a nonzero approximation error. Furthermore, for such an enriched element we derive simple explicit formulas for the basis functions, and show that the approximation error can be written as the sum of the error of the (non-enriched) element plus a perturbation that depends on the enrichment function. Finally, we estimate the approximation error in L² norm. We also give an alternative approach to estimate the approximation error, which relies on an appropriate use of the Poincaré inequality.