Nonconforming finite element Stokes complexes in three dimensions

Two nonconforming finite element Stokes complexes ended with the nonconforming $P_1$-$P_0$ element for the Stokes equation in three dimensions are constructed. And commutative diagrams are also shown by combining nonconforming finite element Stokes complexes and interpolation operators. The lower order $\boldsymbol H(\textrm{grad}~\textrm{curl})$-nonconforming finite element only has $14$ degrees of freedom, whose basis functions are explicitly given in terms of the barycentric coordinates. The $\boldsymbol H(\textrm{grad}~\textrm{curl})$-nonconforming elements are applied to solve the quad-curl problem, and optimal convergence is derived. By the nonconforming finite element Stokes complexes, the mixed finite element methods of the quad-curl problem is decoupled into two mixed methods of the Maxwell equation and the nonconforming $P_1$-$P_0$ element method for the Stokes equation, based on which a fast solver is developed.Comment: 20 page

The Lower Bounds for Eigenvalues of Elliptic Operators --By Nonconforming Finite Element Methods

The aim of the paper is to introduce a new systematic method that can produce lower bounds for eigenvalues. The main idea is to use nonconforming finite element methods. The general conclusion herein is that if local approximation properties of nonconforming finite element spaces $V_h$ are better than global continuity properties of $V_h$, corresponding methods will produce lower bounds for eigenvalues. More precisely, under three conditions on continuity and approximation properties of nonconforming finite element spaces we first show abstract error estimates of approximate eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Subsequently, we propose one more condition and prove that it is sufficient to guarantee nonconforming finite element methods to produce lower bounds for eigenvalues of symmetric elliptic operators. As one application, we show that this condition hold for most nonconforming elements in literature. As another important application, this condition provides a guidance to modify known nonconforming elements in literature and to propose new nonconforming elements. In fact, we enrich locally the Crouzeix-Raviart element such that the new element satisfies the condition; we propose a new nonconforming element for second order elliptic operators and prove that it will yield lower bounds for eigenvalues. Finally, we prove the saturation condition for most nonconforming elements.Comment: 24 page

Stable cheapest nonconforming finite elements for the Stokes equations

We introduce two pairs of stable cheapest nonconforming finite element space pairs to approximate the Stokes equations. One pair has each component of its velocity field to be approximated by the $P_1$ nonconforming quadrilateral element while the pressure field is approximated by the piecewise constant function with globally two-dimensional subspaces removed: one removed space is due to the integral mean--zero property and the other space consists of global checker--board patterns. The other pair consists of the velocity space as the $P_1$ nonconforming quadrilateral element enriched by a globally one--dimensional macro bubble function space based on $DSSY$ (Douglas-Santos-Sheen-Ye) nonconforming finite element space; the pressure field is approximated by the piecewise constant function with mean--zero space eliminated. We show that two element pairs satisfy the discrete inf-sup condition uniformly. And we investigate the relationship between them. Several numerical examples are shown to confirm the efficiency and reliability of the proposed methods

Nonconforming finite element approximations of the Steklov eigenvalue problem and its lower bound approximations

summary:The paper deals with error estimates and lower bound approximations of the Steklov eigenvalue problems on convex or concave domains by nonconforming finite element methods. We consider four types of nonconforming finite elements: Crouzeix-Raviart, $Q_{1}^{\rm rot}$, $EQ_{1}^{\rm rot}$ and enriched Crouzeix-Raviart. We first derive error estimates for the nonconforming finite element approximations of the Steklov eigenvalue problem and then give the analysis of lower bound approximations. Some numerical results are presented to validate our theoretical results

P1-Nonconforming finite elements on triangulations into triangles and quadrilaterals

The P1-nonconforming finite element is introduced for arbitrary triangulations into quadrilaterals and triangles of multiple connected Lipschitz domains. An explicit a priori analysis for the combination of the Park–Sheen and the Crouzeix–Raviart nonconforming finite element methods is given for second-order elliptic PDEs with inhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions