A finite element method for a unidimensional single-phase nonlinear free boundary problem in groundwater flow

Consider a unidimensional, single-phase nonlinear Stefan problemwith nonlinear source and permeance terms, and a Dirichlet boundarycondition depending on the free boundary function. This problemis important in groundwater flow. By immobilizing the free boundarywith the help of a Landau-type transformation, together witha homogeneous transformation dealing with the nonhomogeneousDirichlet boundary condition, an H¹-finite element method forthe problem is proposed and analyzed. Global existence of theapproximate solution is established, and optimal error estimatesin L², L, H¹ and H² norms are derived for both semi-discreteand fully discrete schemes.