The Basics of Weak Galerkin Finite Element Methods

The goal of this article is to clarify some misunderstandings and inappropriate claims made in [6] regarding the relation between the weak Galerkin (WG) finite element method and the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG). In this paper, the authors offered their understandings and interpretations on the weak Galerkin finite element method by describing the basics of the WG method and how WG can be applied to a model PDE problem in various variational forms. In the authors' view, WG-FEM and HDG methods are based on different philosophies and therefore represent different methodologies in numerical PDEs, though they share something in common in their roots. A theory and an example are given to show that the primal WG-FEM is not equivalent to the existing HDG [9]

A Weak Galerkin Finite Element Method for Second-Order Elliptic Problems

In this paper, authors shall introduce a finite element method by using a weakly defined gradient operator over discontinuous functions with heterogeneous properties. The use of weak gradients and their approximations results in a new concept called {\em discrete weak gradients} which is expected to play important roles in numerical methods for partial differential equations. This article intends to provide a general framework for operating differential operators on functions with heterogeneous properties. As a demonstrative example, the discrete weak gradient operator is employed as a building block to approximate the solution of a model second order elliptic problem, in which the classical gradient operator is replaced by the discrete weak gradient. The resulting numerical approximation is called a weak Galerkin (WG) finite element solution. It can be seen that the weak Galerkin method allows the use of totally discontinuous functions in the finite element procedure. For the second order elliptic problem, an optimal order error estimate in both a discrete $H^1$ and $L^2$ norms are established for the corresponding weak Galerkin finite element solutions. A superconvergence is also observed for the weak Galerkin approximation.Comment: 17 pages, research result

A Weak Galerkin Mixed Finite Element Method for Second-Order Elliptic Problems

A new weak Galerkin (WG) method is introduced and analyzed for the second order elliptic equation formulated as a system of two first order linear equations. This method, called WG-MFEM, is designed by using discontinuous piecewise polynomials on finite element partitions with arbitrary shape of polygons/polyhedra. The WG-MFEM is capable of providing very accurate numerical approximations for both the primary and flux variables. Allowing the use of discontinuous approximating functions on arbitrary shape of polygons/polyhedra makes the method highly flexible in practical computation. Optimal order error estimates in both discrete $H^1$ and $L^2$ norms are established for the corresponding weak Galerkin mixed finite element solutions.Comment: 26 page

A Discrete Divergence-Free Weak Galerkin Finite Element Method for the Stokes Equations

A discrete divergence-free weak Galerkin finite element method is developed for the Stokes equations based on a weak Galerkin (WG) method introduced in the reference [15]. Discrete divergence-free bases are constructed explicitly for the lowest order weak Galerkin elements in two and three dimensional spaces. These basis functions can be derived on general meshes of arbitrary shape of polygons and polyhedrons. With the divergence-free basis derived, the discrete divergence-free WG scheme can eliminate the pressure variable from the system and reduces a saddle point problem to a symmetric and positive definite system with many fewer unknowns. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of this discrete divergence-free WG method.Comment: 12 page

A Stable Numerical Algorithm for the Brinkman Equations by Weak Galerkin Finite Element Methods

This paper presents a stable numerical algorithm for the Brinkman equations by using weak Galerkin (WG) finite element methods. The Brinkman equations can be viewed mathematically as a combination of the Stokes and Darcy equations which model fluid flow in a multi-physics environment, such as flow in complex porous media with a permeability coefficient highly varying in the simulation domain. In such applications, the flow is dominated by Darcy in some regions and by Stokes in others. It is well known that the usual Stokes stable elements do not work well for Darcy flow and vise versa. The challenge of this study is on the design of numerical schemes which are stable for both the Stokes and the Darcy equations. This paper shows that the WG finite element method is capable of meeting this challenge by providing a numerical scheme that is stable and accurate for both Darcy and the Stokes dominated flows. Error estimates of optimal order are established for the corresponding WG finite element solutions. The paper also presents some numerical experiments that demonstrate the robustness, reliability, flexibility and accuracy of the WG method for the Brinkman equations.Comment: 20 pages, 21 plots and figure

Weak Galerkin Finite Element Methods for the Biharmonic Equation on Polytopal Meshes

A new weak Galerkin (WG) finite element method is introduced and analyzed in this paper for the biharmonic equation in its primary form. This method is highly robust and flexible in the element construction by using discontinuous piecewise polynomials on general finite element partitions consisting of polygons or polyhedra of arbitrary shape. The resulting WG finite element formulation is symmetric, positive definite, and parameter-free. Optimal order error estimates in a discrete $H^2$ norm is established for the corresponding WG finite element solutions. Error estimates in the usual $L^2$ norm are also derived, yielding a sub-optimal order of convergence for the lowest order element and an optimal order of convergence for all high order of elements. Numerical results are presented to confirm the theory of convergence under suitable regularity assumptions.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1202.3655, arXiv:1204.365

Weak Galerkin Finite Element Methods on Polytopal Meshes

This paper introduces a new weak Galerkin (WG) finite element method for second order elliptic equations on polytopal meshes. This method, called WG-FEM, is designed by using a discrete weak gradient operator applied to discontinuous piecewise polynomials on finite element partitions of arbitrary polytopes with certain shape regularity. The paper explains how the numerical schemes are designed and why they provide reliable numerical approximations for the underlying partial differential equations. In particular, optimal order error estimates are established for the corresponding WG-FEM approximations in both a discrete $H^1$ norm and the standard $L^2$ norm. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the robustness, reliability, and accuracy of the WG-FEM. All the results are derived for finite element partitions with polytopes. Allowing the use of discontinuous approximating functions on arbitrary polytopal elements is a highly demanded feature for numerical algorithms in scientific computing.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures, 5 table

Effective Implementation of the Weak Galerkin Finite Element Methods for the Biharmonic Equation

The weak Galerkin (WG) methods have been introduced in the references [11, 16] for solving the biharmonic equation. The purpose of this paper is to develop an algorithm to implement the WG methods effectively. This can be achieved by eliminating local unknowns to obtain a global system with significant reduction of size. In fact, this reduced global system is equivalent to the Schur complements of the WG methods. The unknowns of the Schur complement of the WG method are those defined on the element boundaries. The equivalence of the WG method and its Schur complement is established. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of this new implementation technique.Comment: 10 page

A Hybridized Formulation for the Weak Galerkin Mixed Finite Element Method

This paper presents a hybridized formulation for the weak Galerkin mixed finite element method (WG-MFEM) which was introduced and analyzed for second order elliptic equations. The WG-MFEM method was designed by using discontinuous piecewise polynomials on finite element partitions consisting of polygonal or polyhedral elements of arbitrary shape. The key to WG-MFEM is the use of a discrete weak divergence operator which is defined and computed by solving inexpensive problems locally on each element. The hybridized formulation of this paper leads to a significantly reduced system of linear equations involving only the unknowns arising from the Lagrange multiplier in hybridization. Optimal-order error estimates are derived for the hybridized WG-MFEM approximations. Some numerical results are reported to confirm the theory and a superconvergence for the Lagrange multiplier.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, 3 table

De Rham Complexes for Weak Galerkin Finite Element Spaces

Two de Rham complex sequences of the finite element spaces are introduced for weak finite element functions and weak derivatives developed in the weak Galerkin (WG) finite element methods on general polyhedral elements. One of the sequences uses polynomials of equal order for all the finite element spaces involved in the sequence and the other one uses polynomials of naturally decending orders. It is shown that the diagrams in both de Rham complexes commute for general polyhedral elements. The exactness of one of the complexes is established for the lowest order element.Comment: 15 page