Duality analysis of interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin methods under minimal regularity and application to the a priori and a posteriori error analysis of Helmholtz problems

We consider interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of time-harmonic wave propagation problems modeled by the Helmholtz equation, and derive novel a priori and a posteriori estimates. Our analysis classically relies on duality arguments of Aubin-Nitsche type, and its originality is that it applies under minimal regularity assumptions. The estimates we obtain directly generalize known results for conforming discretizations, namely that the discrete solution is optimal in a suitable energy norm and that the error can be explicitly controlled by a posteriori estimators, provided the mesh is sufficiently fine

Asymptotically constant-free and polynomial-degree-robust a posteriori error estimates for time-harmonic Maxwell's equations

We propose a novel a posteriori error estimator for the N\'ed\'elec finite element discretization of time-harmonic Maxwell's equations. After the approximation of the electric field is computed, we propose a fully localized algorithm to reconstruct approximations to the electric displacement and the magnetic field, with such approximations respectively fulfilling suitable divergence and curl constraints. These reconstructed fields are in turn used to construct an a posteriori error estimator which is shown to be reliable and efficient. Specifically, the estimator controls the error from above up to a constant that tends to one as the mesh is refined and/or the polynomial degree is increased, and from below up to constant independent of $p$. Both bounds are also fully-robust in the low-frequency regime. The properties of the proposed estimator are illustrated on a set of numerical examples

Asymptotic optimality of the edge finite element approximation of the time-harmonic Maxwell's equations

We analyze the conforming approximation of the time-harmonic Maxwell's equations using N\'ed\'elec (edge) finite elements. We prove that the approximation is asymptotically optimal, i.e., the approximation error in the energy norm is bounded by the best-approximation error times a constant that tends to one as the mesh is refined and/or the polynomial degree is increased. Moreover, under the same conditions on the mesh and/or the polynomial degree, we establish discrete inf-sup stability with a constant that corresponds to the continuous constant up to a factor of two at most. Our proofs apply under minimal regularity assumptions on the exact solution, so that general domains, material coefficients, and right-hand sides are allowed

Scattering by finely-layered obstacles: frequency-explicit bounds and homogenization

We consider the scalar Helmholtz equation with variable, discontinuous coefficients, modelling transmission of acoustic waves through an anisotropic penetrable obstacle. We first prove a well-posedness result and a frequency-explicit bound on the solution operator, with both valid for sufficiently-large frequency and for a class of coefficients that satisfy certain monotonicity conditions in one spatial direction, and are only assumed to be bounded (i.e., $L^\infty$) in the other spatial directions. This class of coefficients therefore includes coefficients modelling transmission by penetrable obstacles with a (potentially large) number of layers (in 2-d) or fibres (in 3-d). Importantly, the frequency-explicit bound holds uniformly for all coefficients in this class; this uniformity allows us to consider highly-oscillatory coefficients and study the limiting behaviour when the period of oscillations goes to zero. In particular, we bound the $H^1$ error committed by the first-order bulk correction to the homogenized transmission problem, with this bound explicit in both the period of oscillations of the coefficients and the frequency of the Helmholtz equation; to our knowledge, this is the first homogenization result for the Helmholtz equation that is explicit in these two quantities and valid without the assumption that the frequency is small

Frequency-explicit a posteriori error estimates for discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of Maxwell's equations

We propose a new residual-based a posteriori error estimator for discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of time-harmonic Maxwell's equations in first-order form. We establish that the estimator is reliable and efficient, and the dependency of the reliability and efficiency constants on the frequency is analyzed and discussed. The proposed estimates generalize similar results previously obtained for the Helmholtz equation and conforming finite element discretization of Maxwell's equations. In addition, for the discontinuous Galerkin scheme considered here, we also show that the proposed estimator is asymptotically constant-free for smooth solutions. We also present two-dimensional numerical examples that highlight our key theoretical findings and suggest that the proposed estimator is suited to drive $h$- and $hp$-adaptive iterative refinements.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2009.0920

Adjoint-based formulation for computing derivatives with respect to bed boundary positions in resistivity geophysics

In inverse geophysical resistivity problems, it is common to optimize for specific resistivity values and bed boundary positions, as needed, for example, in geosteering applications. When using gradient-based inversion methods such as Gauss-Newton, we need to estimate the derivatives of the recorded measurements with respect to the inversion parameters. In this article, we describe an adjoint-based formulation for computing the derivatives of the electromagnetic fields withrespect to the bed boundary positions. The key idea to obtain this adjoint-based formulation is to separate the tangential and normal components of the field, and treat them differently. We then apply this method to a 1.5D borehole resistivity problem. We illustrate its accuracy and some of its convergence properties via numerical experimentation by comparing the results obtained with our proposed adjoint-based method vs. both the analytical results when available and a finite differences approximation of the derivative

Finite Element Simulations of Logging-While-Drilling and Extra-Deep Azimuthal Resistivity Measurements using Non-Fitting Grids

We propose a discretization technique using non-fitting grids to simulate magnetic field-based resistivity logging measurements. Non-fitting grids are convenient because they are simpler to generate and handle than fitting grids when the geometry is complex. On the other side, fitting grids have been historically preferred because they offer additional accuracy for a fixed problem size in the general case. In this work, we analyse the use of non-fitting grids to simulate the response of logging instruments that are based on magnetic field resistivity measurements using 2.5D Maxwell’s equations. We provide various examples demonstrating that, for these applications, if the finite element matrix coefficients are properly integrated, the accuracy loss due to the use of non-fitting grids is negligible compared to the case where fitting grids are employed

Finite element approximation of electromagnetic fields using nonfitting meshes for Geophysics

We analyze the use of nonfitting meshes for simulating the propagation of electromagnetic waves inside the earth with applications to borehole logging. We avoid the use of parameter homogenization and employ standard edge finite element basis functions. For our geophysical applications, we consider a 3D Maxwell’s system with piecewise constant conductivity and globally constant permittivity and permeability. The model is analyzed and discretized using both the Eand H-formulations. Our main contribution is to develop a sharp error estimate for both the electric and magnetic fields. In the presence of singularities, our estimate shows that the magnetic field approximation is converging faster than the electric field approximation. As a result, we conclude that error estimates available in the literature are sharp with respect to the electric field error but provide pessimistic convergence rates for the magnetic field in our geophysical applications. Another surprising consequence of our analysis is that nonfitting meshes deliver the same convergence rate as fitting meshes to approximate the magnetic field. Our theoretical results are numerically illustrated via 2D experiments. For the analyzed cases, the accuracy loss due to the use of nonfitting meshes islimited, even for high conductivity contrasts