Serendipity and Tensor Product Affine Pyramid Finite Elements

Using the language of finite element exterior calculus, we define two families of $H^1$-conforming finite element spaces over pyramids with a parallelogram base. The first family has matching polynomial traces with tensor product elements on the base while the second has matching polynomial traces with serendipity elements on the base. The second family is new to the literature and provides a robust approach for linking between Lagrange elements on tetrahedra and serendipity elements on affinely-mapped cubes while preserving continuity and approximation properties. We define shape functions and degrees of freedom for each family and prove unisolvence and polynomial reproduction results.Comment: Accepted to SMAI Journal of Computational Mathematic

Trimmed Serendipity Finite Element Differential Forms

We introduce the family of trimmed serendipity finite element differential form spaces, defined on cubical meshes in any number of dimensions, for any polynomial degree, and for any form order. The relation between the trimmed serendipity family and the (non-trimmed) serendipity family developed by Arnold and Awanou [Math. Comp. 83(288) 2014] is analogous to the relation between the trimmed and (non-trimmed) polynomial finite element differential form families on simplicial meshes from finite element exterior calculus. We provide degrees of freedom in the general setting and prove that they are unisolvent for the trimmed serendipity spaces. The sequence of trimmed serendipity spaces with a fixed polynomial order r provides an explicit example of a system described by Christiansen and Gillette [ESAIM:M2AN 50(3) 2016], namely, a minimal compatible finite element system on squares or cubes containing order r-1 polynomial differential forms.Comment: Improved results, detailed comparison to prior and contemporary work, and further explanation of computational benefits have been added since the original version. This version has been accepted for publication in Mathematics of Computatio

Nodal bases for the serendipity family of finite elements

Using the notion of multivariate lower set interpolation, we construct nodal basis functions for the serendipity family of finite elements, of any order and any dimension. For the purpose of computation, we also show how to express these functions as linear combinations of tensor-product polynomials.Comment: Pre-print of version that will appear in Foundations of Computational Mathematic

Constructions of some minimal finite element systems

Within the framework of finite element systems, we show how spaces of differential forms may be constructed, in such a way that they are equipped with commuting interpolators and contain prescribed functions, and are minimal under these constraints. We show how various known mixed finite element spaces fulfill such a design principle, including trimmed polynomial differential forms, serendipity elements and TNT elements. We also comment on virtual element methods and provide a dimension formula for minimal compatible finite element systems containing polynomials of a given degree on hypercubes.Comment: Various minor changes, based on suggestions of paper referee