Norbert Heuer

Norbert Heuer

We present various results on the equivalence and mapping properties under affine transformations of fractional-order Sobolev norms and semi-norms of orders between zero and one. Main results are mutual estimates of the three semi-norms of Sobolev-Slobodeckij, interpolation and quotient space types. In particular, we show that the former two are uniformly equivalent under affine mappings that ensure shape regularity of the domains under consideration.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer, Antti H. Niemi

We develop and analyze an ultraweak variational formulation for a variant of the Kirchhoff-Love plate bending model. Based on this formulation, we introduce a discretization of the discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin type with optimal test functions (DPG). We prove well-posedness of the ultraweak formulation and quasi-optimal convergence of the DPG scheme. The variational formulation and its analysis require tools that control traces and jumps in $H^2$ (standard Sobolev space of scalar functions) and $H(\mathrm{div\,Div})$ (symmetric tensor functions with $L_2$-components whose twice iterated divergence is in $L_2$), and their dualities. These tools are developed in two and three spatial dimensions. One specific result concerns localized traces in a dense subspace of $H(\mathrm{div\,Div})$. They are essential to construct basis functions for an approximation of $H(\mathrm{div\,Div})$. To illustrate the theory we construct basis functions of the lowest order and perform numerical experiments for a smooth and a singular model solution. They confirm the expected convergence behavior of the DPG method both for uniform and adaptively refined meshes.

Franz Chouly, Norbert Heuer

We introduce and analyze a Nitsche-based domain decomposition method for the solution of hypersingular integral equations. This method allows for discretizations with non-matching grids without the necessity of a Lagrangian multiplier, as opposed to the traditional mortar method. We prove its almost quasi-optimal convergence and underline the theory by a numerical experiment.

Gabriel Acosta, Juan Pablo Borthagaray, Norbert Heuer

We study finite element approximations of the nonhomogeneous Dirichlet problem for the fractional Laplacian. Our approach is based on weak imposition of the Dirichlet condition and incorporating a nonlocal analogous of the normal derivative as a Lagrange multiplier in the formulation of the problem. In order to obtain convergence orders for our scheme, regularity estimates are developed, both for the solution and its nonlocal derivative. The method we propose requires that, as meshes are refined, the discrete problems be solved in a family of domains of growing diameter.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer, Jhuma Sen Gupta

We introduce and analyze a discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin method with optimal test functions for the heat equation. The scheme is based on the backward Euler time stepping and uses an ultra-weak variational formulation at each time step. We prove the stability of the method for the field variables (the original unknown and its gradient weighted by the square root of the time step) and derive a Céa-type error estimate. For low-order approximation spaces this implies certain convergence orders when time steps are not too small in comparison with mesh sizes. Some numerical experiments are reported to support our theoretical results.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer

We extend the analysis and discretization of the Kirchhoff-Love plate bending problem from [T. Führer, N. Heuer, A.H. Niemi, An ultraweak formulation of the Kirchhoff-Love plate bending model and DPG approximation, arXiv:1805.07835, 2018] in two aspects. First, we present a well-posed formulation and quasi-optimal DPG discretization that includes the gradient of the deflection. Second, we construct Fortin operators that prove the well-posedness and quasi-optimal convergence of lowest-order discrete schemes with approximated test functions for both formulations. Our results apply to the case of non-convex polygonal plates where shear forces can be less than $L_2$-regular. Numerical results illustrate expected convergence orders.

Martin Healey, Norbert Heuer

We establish a mortar boundary element scheme for hypersingular boundary integral equations representing elliptic boundary value problems in three dimensions. We prove almost quasi-optimal convergence of the scheme in broken Sobolev norms of order 1/2. Sub-domain decompositions can be geometrically non-conforming and meshes must be quasi-uniform only on sub-domains. Numerical results confirm the theory.

Zhixing Fu, Norbert Heuer, Francisco-Javier Sayas

In this paper we propose and analyze a new coupling procedure for the Hybridizable Discontinuous Galerkin Method with Galerkin Boundary Element Methods based on a double layer potential representation of the exterior component of the solution of a transmission problem. We show a discrete uniform coercivity estimate for the non-symmetric bilinear form and prove optimal convergence estimates for all the variables, as well as superconvergence for some of the discrete fields. Some numerical experiments support the theoretical findings.

Norbert Heuer, Francisco-Javier Sayas

We analyze a non-symmetric coupling of interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin and boundary element methods in two and three dimensions. Main results are discrete coercivity of the method, and thus unique solvability, and quasi-optimal convergence. The proof of coercivity is based on a localized variant of the variational technique from [F.-J. Sayas, The validity of Johnson-Nédeléc's BEM-FEM coupling on polygonal interfaces, {\em SIAM J. Numer. Anal.}, 47(5):3451--3463, 2009]. This localization gives rise to terms which are carefully analyzed in fractional order Sobolev spaces, and by using scaling arguments for rigid transformations. Numerical evidence of the proven convergence properties has been published previously.

Norbert Heuer, Michael Karkulik

Generalizing the framework of an ultra-weak formulation for a hypersingular integral equation on closed polygons in [N. Heuer, F. Pinochet, arXiv 1309.1697 (to appear in SIAM J. Numer. Anal.)], we study the case of a hypersingular integral equation on open and closed polyhedral surfaces. We develop a general ultra-weak setting in fractional-order Sobolev spaces and prove its well-posedness and equivalence with the traditional formulation. Based on the ultra-weak formulation, we establish a discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin method with optimal test functions and prove its quasi-optimal convergence in related Sobolev norms. For closed surfaces, this general result implies quasi-optimal convergence in the L^2-norm. Some numerical experiments confirm expected convergence rates.

Norbert Heuer, Thanh Tran

We present a simple discretization by radial basis functions for the Poisson equation with Dirichlet boundary condition. A Lagrangian multiplier using piecewise polynomials is used to accommodate the boundary condition. This simplifies previous attempts to use radial basis functions in the interior domain to approximate the solution and on the boundary to approximate the multiplier, which technically requires that the mesh norm in the interior domain is significantly smaller than that on the boundary. Numerical experiments confirm theoretical results.

Alexei Bespalov, Norbert Heuer

We apply the hp-version of the boundary element method (BEM) for the numerical solution of the electric field integral equation (EFIE) on a Lipschitz polyhedral surface G. The underlying meshes are supposed to be quasi-uniform triangulations of G, and the approximations are based on either Raviart-Thomas or Brezzi-Douglas-Marini families of surface elements. Non-smoothness of G leads to singularities in the solution of the EFIE, severely affecting convergence rates of the BEM. However, the singular behaviour of the solution can be explicitly specified using a finite set of power functions (vertex-, edge-, and vertex-edge singularities). In this paper we use this fact to perform an a priori error analysis of the hp-BEM on quasi-uniform meshes. We prove precise error estimates in terms of the polynomial degree p, the mesh size h, and the singularity exponents.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer, Michael Karkulik et al.

We propose and analyze a discretization scheme that combines the discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin and finite element methods. The underlying model problem is of general diffusion-advection-reaction type on bounded domains, with decomposition into two sub-domains. We propose a heterogeneous variational formulation that is of the ultra-weak (Petrov-Galerkin) form with broken test space in one part, and of Bubnov-Galerkin form in the other. A standard discretization with conforming approximation spaces and appropriate test spaces (optimal test functions for the ultra-weak part and standard test functions for the Bubnov-Galerkin part) gives rise to a coupled DPG-FEM scheme. We prove its well-posedness and quasi-optimal convergence. Numerical results confirm expected convergence orders.

Norbert Heuer, Thanh Tran

We analyze the approximation by radial basis functions of a hypersingular integral equation on an open surface. In order to accommodate the homogeneous essential boundary condition along the surface boundary, scaled radial basis functions on an extended surface and Lagrangian multipliers on the extension are used. We prove that our method converges quasi-optimally. Approximation results for scaled radial basis functions indicate that, for highly regular radial basis functions, the achieved convergence rates are close to the one of low-order conforming boundary element schemes. Numerical experiments confirm our conclusions.

Alexei Bespalov, Norbert Heuer

In this paper the hp-version of the boundary element method is applied to the electric field integral equation on a piecewise plane (open or closed) Lipschitz surface. The underlying meshes are supposed to be quasi-uniform. We use H(div)-conforming discretisations with quadrilateral elements of Raviart-Thomas type and establish quasi-optimal convergence of hp-approximations. Main ingredient of our analysis is a new H^{-1/2}(div)-conforming p-interpolation operator that assumes only H^r \cap H^{-1/2}(div)-regularity (r > 0) and for which we show quasi-stability with respect to polynomial degrees.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer

We present quasi-diagonal preconditioners for piecewise polynomial discretizations of pseudodifferential operators of order minus two in any space dimension. Here, quasi-diagonal means diagonal up to a sparse transformation. Considering shape regular simplicial meshes and arbitrary fixed polynomial degrees, we prove, for dimensions larger than one, that our preconditioners are asymptotically optimal. Numerical experiments in two, three and four dimensions confirm our results. For each dimension, we report on condition numbers for piecewise constant and piecewise linear polynomials.

Norbert Heuer, Salim Meddahi

We present and analyze a discontinuous variant of the hp-version of the boundary element Galerkin method with quasi-uniform meshes. The model problem is that of the hypersingular integral operator on an (open or closed) polyhedral surface. We prove a quasi-optimal error estimate and conclude convergence orders which are quasi-optimal for the h-version with arbitrary degree and almost quasi-optimal for the p-version. Numerical results underline the theory.

Norbert Heuer, Antti H. Niemi

We consider an elastic model for a circular arch that incorporates membrane, transverse shear, and bending effects. The central line of the arch is partitioned into elements, and an ultra-weak variational formulation is developed alongside a discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin (DPG) approximation procedure based on so-called optimal test functions. The formulation uses discontinuous stress and displacement interpolations on the element mesh, with corresponding interface variables defined at the nodes. Theoretical analysis predicts optimal convergence rates for all quantities of interest, while also revealing potential error amplification influenced by the curvature of the arch and the imposed boundary conditions. The method is tested on examples with different support configurations. The numerical experiments confirm the theoretical predictions and further demonstrate that the accuracy of the DPG method can be improved by employing a suitably scaled test space norm.

Carlos García Vera, Norbert Heuer, Dirk Praetorius

We propose a least-squares penalization as a means to extend the discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin (DPG) method with optimal test functions to a class of semilinear elliptic problems. The nonlinear contributions are replaced with independent unknowns so that standard DPG techniques apply to the then linear problem with non-trivial kernel. The nonlinear relations are added as least-squares constraints. Assuming solvability of the semilinear problem and an Aubin-Nitsche-type approximation property for the primal variable, we prove a Cea estimate for the approximation error in canonical norms. Numerical results with uniform and adaptively refined meshes illustrate the performance of the scheme.

Thomas Führer, Alexander Haberl, Norbert Heuer

We study several trace operators and spaces that are related to the bi-Laplacian. They are motivated by the development of ultraweak formulations for the bi-Laplace equation with homogeneous Dirichlet condition, but are also relevant to describe conformity of mixed approximations. Our aim is to have well-posed (ultraweak) formulations that assume low regularity, under the condition of an $L_2$ right-hand side function. We pursue two ways of defining traces and corresponding integration-by-parts formulas. In one case one obtains a non-closed space. This can be fixed by switching to the Kirchhoff-Love traces from [Führer, Heuer, Niemi, An ultraweak formulation of the Kirchhoff-Love plate bending model and DPG approximation, Math. Comp., 88 (2019)]. Using different combinations of trace operators we obtain two well-posed formulations. For both of them we report on numerical experiments with the DPG method and optimal test functions. In this paper we consider two and three space dimensions. However, with the exception of a given counterexample in an appendix (related to the non-closedness of a trace space), our analysis applies to any space dimension larger than or equal to two.

Norbert Heuer, Michael Karkulik

We present and analyze a discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin method with optimal test functions for a reaction-dominated diffusion problem in two and three space dimensions. We start with an ultra-weak formulation that comprises parameters $α$, $β$ to allow for general $\varepsilon$-dependent weightings of three field variables ($\varepsilon$ being the small diffusion parameter). Specific values of $α$ and $β$ imply robustness of the method, that is, a quasi-optimal error estimate with a constant that is independent of $\varepsilon$. Moreover, these values lead to a norm for the field variables that is known to be balanced in $\varepsilon$ for model problems with typical boundary layers. Several numerical examples underline our theoretical estimates and reveal stability of approximations even for very small $\varepsilon$.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer

We consider a transmission problem consisting of a singularly perturbed reaction diffusion equation on a bounded domain and the Laplacian in the exterior, connected through standard transmission conditions. We establish a DPG scheme coupled with Galerkin boundary elements for its discretization, and prove its robustness for the field variables in so-called balanced norms. Our coupling scheme is the one from [Führer, Heuer, Karkulik: On the coupling of DPG and BEM, arXiv:1508.00630], adapted to the singularly perturbed case by using the scheme from [Heuer, Karkulik: A robust DPG method for singularly perturbed reaction diffusion problems, arXiv:1509.07560]. Essential feature of our method is that optimal test functions have to be computed only locally. We report on various numerical experiments in two dimensions.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer, Ernst P. Stephan

We derive and analyze discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin methods with optimal test functions for Signorini-type problems as a prototype of a variational inequality of the first kind. We present different symmetric and non-symmetric formulations where optimal test functions are only used for the PDE part of the problem, not the boundary conditions. For the symmetric case and lowest order approximations, we provide a simple a posteriori error estimate. In a second part, we apply our technique to the singularly perturbed case of reaction dominated diffusion. Numerical results show the performance of our method and, in particular, its robustness in the singularly perturbed case.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer, Michael Karkulik

We develop and analyze strategies to couple the discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin method with optimal test functions to (i) least-squares boundary elements and (ii) various variants of standard Galerkin boundary elements. Essential feature of our methods is that, despite the use of boundary integral equations, optimal test functions have to be computed only locally. We apply our findings to a standard transmission problem in full space and present numerical experiments to validate our theory.

Vincent J. Ervin, Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer et al.

We develop an ultra-weak variational formulation of a fractional advection diffusion problem in one space dimension and prove its well-posedness. Based on this formulation, we define a DPG approximation with optimal test functions and show its quasi-optimal convergence. Numerical experiments confirm expected convergence properties, for uniform and adaptively refined meshes.

Norbert Heuer, Gredy Salmerón

We present and analyze a non-conforming domain decomposition approximation for a hypersingular operator governed by the Helmholtz equation in three dimensions. This operator appears when considering the corresponding Neumann problem in unbounded domains exterior to open surfaces. We consider small wave numbers and low-order approximations with Nitsche coupling across interfaces. Under appropriate assumptions on mapping properties of the weakly singular and hypersingular operators with Helmholtz kernel, we prove that this method converges almost quasi-optimally. Numerical experiments confirm our error estimate.

Thomas Führer, Norbert Heuer

We present and analyze a preconditioner of the additive Schwarz type for the mortar boundary element method. As a basic splitting, on each subdomain we separate the degrees of freedom related to its boundary from the inner degrees of freedom. The corresponding wirebasket-type space decomposition is stable up to logarithmic terms. For the blocks that correspond to the inner degrees of freedom standard preconditioners for the hypersingular integral operator on open boundaries can be used. For the boundary and interface parts as well as the Lagrangian multiplier space, simple diagonal preconditioners are optimal. Our technique applies to quasi-uniform and non-uniform meshes of shape-regular elements. Numerical experiments on triangular and quadrilateral meshes confirm theoretical bounds for condition and MINRES iteration numbers.

Norbert Heuer, Michael Karkulik

We propose and analyze a numerical method to solve an elliptic transmission problem in full space. The method consists of a variational formulation involving standard boundary integral operators on the coupling interface and an ultra-weak formulation in the interior. To guarantee the discrete inf-sup condition, the system is discretized by the DPG method with optimal test functions. We prove that principal unknowns are approximated quasi-optimally. Numerical experiments for problems with smooth and singular solutions confirm optimal convergence orders.

Alexei Bespalov, Norbert Heuer

In this paper we construct a new H(div)-conforming projection-based p-interpolation operator that assumes only $H^r(K) \cap \tilde H^{-1/2}(div,K)$-regularity (r > 0) on the reference element K (either triangle or square). We show that this operator is stable with respect to polynomial degrees and satisfies the commuting diagram property. We also establish an estimate for the interpolation error in the norm of the space $\tilde H^{-1/2}(div,K)$, which is closely related to the energy spaces for boundary integral formulations of time-harmonic problems of electromagnetics in three dimensions.

Victor Dominguez, Norbert Heuer, Francisco-Javier Sayas

In this paper we study the Hilbert scales defined by the associated Legendre functions for arbitrary integer values of the parameter. This problem is equivalent to study the left-definite spectral theory associated to the modified Legendre equation. We give several characterizations of the spaces as weighted Sobolev spaces and prove identities among the spaces corresponding to lower regularity index.

Alexei Bespalov, Norbert Heuer, Ralf Hiptmair

We consider the variational formulation of the electric field integral equation (EFIE) on bounded polyhedral open or closed surfaces. We employ a conforming Galerkin discretization based on div-conforming Raviart-Thomas boundary elements (BEM) of locally variable polynomial degree on shape-regular surface meshes. We establish asymptotic quasi-optimality of Galerkin solutions on sufficiently fine meshes or for sufficiently high polynomial degree.

Alexei Bespalov, Norbert Heuer

This paper presents an a priori error analysis of the hp-version of the boundary element method for the electric field integral equation on a piecewise plane (open or closed) Lipschitz surface. We use H(div)-conforming discretisations with Raviart-Thomas elements on a sequence of quasi-uniform meshes of triangles and/or parallelograms. Assuming the regularity of the solution to the electric field integral equation in terms of Sobolev spaces of tangential vector fields, we prove an a priori error estimate of the method in the energy norm. This estimate proves the expected rate of convergence with respect to the mesh parameter h and the polynomial degree p.

Alexei Bespalov, Norbert Heuer

In this paper we prove an optimal error estimate for the H(curl)-conforming projection based p-interpolation operator introduced in [L. Demkowicz and I. Babuska, p interpolation error estimates for edge finite elements of variable order in two dimensions, SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 41 (2003), pp. 1195-1208]. This result is proved on the reference element (either triangle or square) K for regular vector fields in H^r(curl,K) with arbitrary r>0. The formulation of the result in the H(div)-conforming setting, which is relevant for the analysis of high-order boundary element approximations for Maxwell's equations, is provided as well.