A posteriori error estimates for nonconforming discretizations of singularly perturbed biharmonic operators

For the pure biharmonic equation and a biharmonic singular perturbation problem, a residual-based error estimator is introduced which applies to many existing nonconforming finite elements. The error estimator involves the local best-approximation error of the finite element function by piecewise polynomial functions of the degree determining the expected approximation order, which need not coincide with the maximal polynomial degree of the element, for example if bubble functions are used. The error estimator is shown to be reliable and locally efficient up to this polynomial best-approximation error and oscillations of the right-hand side

Two families of nn-rectangle nonconforming finite elements for sixth-order elliptic equations

In this paper, we propose two families of nonconforming finite elements on $n$-rectangle meshes of any dimension to solve the sixth-order elliptic equations. The unisolvent property and the approximation ability of the new finite element spaces are established. A new mechanism, called the exchange of sub-rectangles, for investigating the weak continuities of the proposed elements is discovered. With the help of some conforming relatives for the $H^3$ problems, we establish the quasi-optimal error estimate for the tri-harmonic equation in the broken $H^3$ norm of any dimension. The theoretical results are validated further by the numerical tests in both 2D and 3D situations

A family of stabilizer-free virtual elements on triangular meshes

A family of stabilizer-free $P_k$ virtual elements are constructed on triangular meshes. When choosing an accurate and proper interpolation, the stabilizer of the virtual elements can be dropped while the quasi-optimality is kept. The interpolating space here is the space of continuous $P_k$ polynomials on the Hsieh-Clough-Tocher macro-triangle, where the macro-triangle is defined by connecting three vertices of a triangle with its barycenter. We show that such an interpolation preserves $P_k$ polynomials locally and enforces the coerciveness of the resulting bilinear form. Consequently the stabilizer-free virtual element solutions converge at the optimal order. Numerical tests are provided to confirm the theory and to be compared with existing virtual elements