440 research outputs found
Local Finite Element Approximation of Sobolev Differential Forms
We address fundamental aspects in the approximation theory of vector-valued
finite element methods, using finite element exterior calculus as a unifying
framework. We generalize the Cl\'ement interpolant and the Scott-Zhang
interpolant to finite element differential forms, and we derive a broken
Bramble-Hilbert Lemma. Our interpolants require only minimal smoothness
assumptions and respect partial boundary conditions. This permits us to state
local error estimates in terms of the mesh size. Our theoretical results apply
to curl-conforming and divergence-conforming finite element methods over
simplicial triangulations.Comment: 22 pages. Comments welcom
Partial expansion of a Lipschitz domain and some applications
We show that a Lipschitz domain can be expanded solely near a part of its
boundary, assuming that the part is enclosed by a piecewise C1 curve. The
expanded domain as well as the extended part are both Lipschitz. We apply this
result to prove a regular decomposition of standard vector Sobolev spaces with
vanishing traces only on part of the boundary. Another application in the
construction of low-regularity projectors into finite element spaces with
partial boundary conditions is also indicated
Smoothed projections over manifolds in finite element exterior calculus
We develop commuting finite element projections over smooth Riemannian
manifolds. This extension of finite element exterior calculus establishes the
stability and convergence of finite element methods for the Hodge-Laplace
equation on manifolds. The commuting projections use localized mollification
operators, building upon a classical construction by de Rham. These projections
are uniformly bounded on Lebesgue spaces of differential forms and map onto
intrinsic finite element spaces defined with respect to an intrinsic smooth
triangulation of the manifold. We analyze the Galerkin approximation error.
Since practical computations use extrinsic finite element methods over
approximate computational manifolds, we also analyze the geometric error
incurred.Comment: Submitted. 31 page
Convergence and Optimality of Adaptive Mixed Methods on Surfaces
In a 1988 article, Dziuk introduced a nodal finite element method for the
Laplace-Beltrami equation on 2-surfaces approximated by a piecewise-linear
triangulation, initiating a line of research into surface finite element
methods (SFEM). Demlow and Dziuk built on the original results, introducing an
adaptive method for problems on 2-surfaces, and Demlow later extended the a
priori theory to 3-surfaces and higher order elements. In a separate line of
research, the Finite Element Exterior Calculus (FEEC) framework has been
developed over the last decade by Arnold, Falk and Winther and others as a way
to exploit the observation that mixed variational problems can be posed on a
Hilbert complex, and Galerkin-type mixed methods can be obtained by solving
finite dimensional subproblems. In 2011, Holst and Stern merged these two lines
of research by developing a framework for variational crimes in abstract
Hilbert complexes, allowing for application of the FEEC framework to problems
that violate the subcomplex assumption of Arnold, Falk and Winther. When
applied to Euclidean hypersurfaces, this new framework recovers the original a
priori results and extends the theory to problems posed on surfaces of
arbitrary dimensions. In yet another seemingly distinct line of research,
Holst, Mihalik and Szypowski developed a convergence theory for a specific
class of adaptive problems in the FEEC framework. Here, we bring these ideas
together, showing convergence and optimality of an adaptive finite element
method for the mixed formulation of the Hodge Laplacian on hypersurfaces.Comment: 22 pages, no figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1306.188
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