Enrique Otarola

Ricardo H. Nochetto, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

The purpose of this work is the study of solution techniques for problems involving fractional powers of symmetric coercive elliptic operators in a bounded domain with Dirichlet boundary conditions. These operators can be realized as the Dirichlet to Neumann map for a degenerate/singular elliptic problem posed on a semi-infinite cylinder, which we analyze in the framework of weighted Sobolev spaces. Motivated by the rapid decay of the solution of this problem, we propose a truncation that is suitable for numerical approximation. We discretize this truncation using first degree tensor product finite elements. We derive a priori error estimates in weighted Sobolev spaces. The estimates exhibit optimal regularity but suboptimal order for quasi-uniform meshes. For anisotropic meshes, instead, they are quasi-optimal in both order and regularity. We present numerical experiments to illustrate the method's performance.

Ricardo H. Nochetto, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We study solution techniques for parabolic equations with fractional diffusion and Caputo fractional time derivative, the latter being discretized and analyzed in a general Hilbert space setting. The spatial fractional diffusion is realized as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic problem posed on a semi-infinite cylinder in one more spatial dimension. We write our evolution problem as a quasi-stationary elliptic problem with a dynamic boundary condition. We propose and analyze an implicit fully-discrete scheme: first-degree tensor product finite elements in space and an implicit finite difference discretization in time. We prove stability and error estimates for this scheme.

Harbir Antil, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We consider an identification problem, where the state $u$ is governed by a fractional elliptic equation and the unknown variable corresponds to the order $s \in (0,1)$ of the underlying operator. We study the existence of an optimal pair $(\bar s, \bar u)$ and provide sufficient conditions for its local uniqueness. We develop semi-discrete and fully discrete algorithms to approximate the solutions to our identification problem and provide a convergence analysis. We present numerical illustrations that confirm and extend our theory.

Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We consider an evolution equation involving the fractional powers, of order $s \in (0,1)$, of a symmetric and uniformly elliptic second order operator and Caputo fractional time derivative of order $γ\in (1,2]$. Since it has been shown useful for the design of numerical techniques for related problems, we also consider a quasi--stationary elliptic problem that comes from the realization of the spatial fractional diffusion as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic problem posed on a semi--infinite cylinder. We provide existence and uniqueness results together with energy estimates for both problems. In addition, we derive regularity estimates both in time and space; the time--regularity results show that the usual assumptions made in the numerical analysis literature are problematic

Alejandro Allendes, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We propose a posteriori error estimators for classical low-order inf-sup stable and stabilized finite element approximations of the Stokes problem with singular sources in two and three dimensional Lipschitz, but not necessarily convex, polytopal domains. The designed error estimators are proven to be reliable and locally efficient. On the basis of these estimators we design a simple adaptive strategy that yields optimal rates of convergence for the numerical examples that we perform.

Harbir Antil, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

The purpose of this work is to illustrate how the theory of Muckenhoupt weights, Muckenhoupt weighted Sobolev spaces and the corresponding weighted norm inequalities can be used in the analysis and discretization of PDE constrained optimization problems. We consider: a linear quadratic constrained optimization problem where the state solves a nonuniformly elliptic equation; a problem where the cost involves pointwise observations of the state and one where the state has singular sources, e.g. point masses. For all three examples we propose and analyze numerical schemes and provide error estimates in two and three dimensions. While some of these problems might have been considered before in the literature, our approach allows for a simpler, Hilbert space-based, analysis and discretization and further generalizations.

Harbir Antil, Enrique Otarola

In a previous work, we introduced a discretization scheme for a constrained optimal control problem involving the fractional Laplacian. For such a control problem, we derived optimal a priori error estimates that demand the convexity of the domain and some compatibility conditions on the data. To relax such restrictions, in this paper, we introduce and analyze an efficient and, under certain assumptions, reliable a posteriori error estimator. We realize the fractional Laplacian as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic problem posed on a semi--infinite cylinder in one more spatial dimension. This extra dimension further motivates the design of an posteriori error indicator. The latter is defined as the sum of three contributions, which come from the discretization of the state and adjoint equations and the control variable. The indicator for the state and adjoint equations relies on an anisotropic error estimator in Muckenhoupt weighted Sobolev spaces. The analysis is valid in any dimension. On the basis of the devised a posteriori error estimator, we design a simple adaptive strategy that exhibits optimal experimental rates of convergence.

Enrique Otarola

We propose and analyze a new discretization technique for a linear-quadratic optimal control problem involving the fractional powers of a symmetric and uniformly elliptic second oder operator; control constraints are considered. Since these fractional operators can be realized as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic equation, we recast our problem as a nonuniformly elliptic optimal control problem. The rapid decay of the solution to this problem suggests a truncation that is suitable for numerical approximation. We propose a fully discrete scheme that is based on piecewise linear functions on quasi-uniform meshes to approximate the optimal control and first-degree tensor product functions on anisotropic meshes for the optimal state variable. We provide an a priori error analysis that relies on derived Holder and Sobolev regularity estimates for the optimal variables and error estimates for an scheme that approximates fractional diffusion on curved domains; the latter being an extension of previous available results. The analysis is valid in any dimension. We conclude by presenting some numerical experiments that validate the derived error estimates.

Alejandro Allendes, Enrique Otarola, Richard Rankin et al.

We propose and analyze a reliable and efficient a posteriori error estimator for a constrained linear-quadratic optimal control problem involving Dirac measures; the control variable corresponds to the amplitude of forces modeled as point sources. The proposed a posteriori error estimator is defined as the sum of two contributions, which come from the state and adjoint equations. The estimator associated with the state equation is based on Muckenhoupt weighted Sobolev spaces, while the one associated with the adjoint is in the maximum norm and allows for unbounded right hand sides. The analysis is valid for two and three-dimensional domains. On the basis of the devised a posteriori error estimator, we design a simple adaptive strategy that yields optimal rates of convergence for the numerical examples that we perform.

Enrique Otarola

We propose and analyze an a posteriori error estimator for a PDE-constrained optimization problem involving a nondifferentiable cost functional, fractional diffusion, and control-constraints. We realize fractional diffusion as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly PDE and propose an equivalent optimal control problem with a local state equation. For such an equivalent problem, we design an a posteriori error estimator which can be defined as the sum of four contributions: two contributions related to the approximation of the state and adjoint equations and two contributions that account for the discretization of the control variable and its associated subgradient. The contributions related to the discretization of the state and adjoint equations rely on anisotropic error estimators in weighted Sobolev spaces. We prove that the proposed a posteriori error estimator is locally efficient and, under suitable assumptions, reliable. We design an adaptive scheme that yields, for the examples that we perform, optimal experimental rates of convergence.

Lehel Banjai, Enrique Otarola

We study solution techniques for an evolution equation involving second order derivative in time and the spectral fractional powers, of order $s \in (0,1)$, of symmetric, coercive, linear, elliptic, second-order operators in bounded domains $Ω$. We realize fractional diffusion as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic problem posed on the semi-infinite cylinder $\mathcal{C} = Ω\times (0,\infty)$. We thus rewrite our evolution problem as a quasi-stationary elliptic problem with a dynamic boundary condition and derive space, time, and space-time regularity estimates for its solution. The latter problem exhibits an exponential decay in the extended dimension and thus suggests a truncation that is suitable for numerical approximation. We propose and analyze two fully discrete schemes. The discretization in time is based on finite difference discretization techniques: trapezoidal and leapfrog schemes. The discretization in space relies on the tensorization of a first-degree FEM in $Ω$ with a suitable $hp$-FEM in the extended variable. For both schemes we derive stability and error estimates.

Francisco Bersetche, Enrique Otarola, Daniel Quero

We analyze a nonlocal coupled system arising as the Euler--Lagrange equations of an energy functional involving regional fractional Laplacians of orders $s_1$ and $s_2$ ($ 0 < s_1,s_2 < 1$), each acting on a separate disjoint domain and coupled through a nonlocal interaction term depending on a kernel $J$. Under suitable assumptions on the domains and the kernel, we prove existence and uniqueness of the energy minimizer and derive regularity estimates in fractional Sobolev spaces. We introduce a finite element discretization and establish a priori error estimates. We develop an alternating Schwarz-type method for both the continuous and discrete problems and prove its geometric convergence. Numerical experiments validate the theoretical predictions and illustrate the performance of the method.

Alejandro Allendes, Enrique Otarola, Richard Rankin et al.

We analyze a reliable and efficient max-norm a posteriori error estimator for a control-constrained, linear-quadratic optimal control problem. The estimator yields optimal experimental rates of convergence within an adaptive loop.

Francisco Fuica, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We propose an a posteriori error estimator for a sparse optimal control problem: the control variable lies in the space of regular Borel measures. We consider a solution technique that relies on the discretization of the control variable as a linear combination of Dirac measures. The proposed a posteriori error estimator can be decomposed into the sum of two contributions: an error estimator in the maximum norm for the discretization of the adjoint equation and an estimator in the $L^2$-norm that accounts for the approximation of the state equation. We prove that the designed error estimator is locally efficient and we explore its reliability properties. The analysis is valid for two and three-dimensional domains. We illustrate the theory with numerical examples.

Enrique Otarola, Tran Nhan Tam Quyen

We analyze a reaction coefficient identification problem for the spectral fractional powers of a symmetric, coercive, linear, elliptic, second-order operator in a bounded domain $Ω$. We realize fractional diffusion as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic problem posed on the semi-infinite cylinder $Ω\times (0,\infty)$. We thus consider an equivalent coefficient identification problem, where the coefficient to be identified appears explicitly. We derive existence of local solutions, optimality conditions, regularity estimates, and a rapid decay of solutions on the extended domain $(0,\infty)$. The latter property suggests a truncation that is suitable for numerical approximation. We thus propose and analyze a fully discrete scheme that discretizes the set of admissible coefficients with piecewise constant functions. The discretization of the state equation relies on the tensorization of a first-degree FEM in $Ω$ with a suitable $hp$-FEM in the extended dimension. We derive convergence results and obtain, under the assumption that in neighborhood of a local solution the second derivative of the reduced cost functional is coercive, a priori error estimates.

Alejandro Allendes, Enrique Otarola, Richard Rankin

We derive a posteriori error estimators for an optimal control problem governed by a convection-reaction-diffusion equation; control constraints are also considered. We consider a family of low-order stabilized finite element methods to approximate the solutions to the state and adjoint equations. We obtain a fully computable a posteriori error estimator for the optimal control problem. All the constants that appear in the upper bound for the error are fully specified. Therefore, the proposed estimator can be used as a stopping criterion in adaptive algorithms. We also obtain a robust a posteriori error estimator for when the error is measured in a norm that involves the dual norm of the convective derivative. Numerical examples, in two and three dimensions, are presented to illustrate the theory.

Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

In two dimensions, we show existence of solutions to the stationary Navier Stokes equations on weighted spaces $\mathbf{H}^1_0(ω,Ω) \times L^2(ω,Ω)$, where the weight belongs to the Muckenhoupt class $A_2$. We show how this theory can be applied to obtain a priori error estimates for approximations of the solution to the Navier Stokes problem with singular sources.

Alejandro Allendes, Enrique Otarola, Richard Rankin

We derive globally reliable a posteriori error estimators for a PDE-constrained optimization problem involving linear models in fluid dynamics as state equation; control constraints are also considered. The corresponding local error indicators are locally efficient. The assumptions under which we perform the analysis are such that they can be satisfied for a wide variety of stabilized finite element methods as well as for standard finite element methods. When stabilized methods are considered, no a priori relation between the stabilization terms for the state and adjoint equations is required. If a lower bound for the inf-sup constant is available, a posteriori error estimators that are fully computable and provide guaranteed upper bounds on the norm of the error can be obtained. We illustrate the theory with numerical examples.

Lehel Banjai, Jens M. Melenk, Ricardo H. Nochetto et al.

We design and analyze several Finite Element Methods (FEMs) applied to the Caffarelli-Silvestre extension that localizes the fractional powers of symmetric, coercive, linear elliptic operators in bounded domains with Dirichlet boundary conditions. We consider open, bounded, polytopal but not necessarily convex domains $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^d$ with $d=1,2$. For the solution to the extension problem, we establish analytic regularity with respect to the extended variable $y\in (0,\infty)$. We prove that the solution belongs to countably normed, power-exponentially weighted Bochner spaces of analytic functions with respect to $y$, taking values in corner-weighted Kondat'ev type Sobolev spaces in $Ω$. In $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^d$, we discretize with continuous, piecewise linear, Lagrangian FEM ($P_1$-FEM) with mesh refinement near corners, and prove that first order convergence rate is attained for compatible data $f\in \mathbb{H}^{1-s}(Ω)$. We also prove that tensorization of a $P_1$-FEM in $Ω$ with a suitable $hp$-FEM in the extended variable achieves log-linear complexity with respect to $\mathcal{N}_Ω$, the number of degrees of freedom in the domain $Ω$. In addition, we propose a novel, sparse tensor product FEM based on a multilevel $P_1$-FEM in $Ω$ and on a $P_1$-FEM on radical-geometric meshes in the extended variable. We prove that this approach also achieves log-linear complexity with respect to $\mathcal{N}_Ω$. Finally, under the stronger assumption that the data is analytic in $\overlineΩ$, and without compatibility at $\partial Ω$, we establish exponential rates of convergence of $hp$-FEM for spectral, fractional diffusion operators. We also report numerical experiments for model problems which confirm the theoretical results. We indicate several extensions and generalizations of the proposed methods.

Andrea Bonito, Juan Pablo Borthagaray, Ricardo H. Nochetto et al.

We present three schemes for the numerical approximation of fractional diffusion, which build on different definitions of such a non-local process. The first method is a PDE approach that applies to the spectral definition and exploits the extension to one higher dimension. The second method is the integral formulation and deals with singular non-integrable kernels. The third method is a discretization of the Dunford-Taylor formula. We discuss pros and cons of each method, error estimates, and document their performance with a few numerical experiments.

Alejandro Allendes, Enrique Otarola, Richard Rankin et al.

The purpose of this work is the design and analysis of a reliable and efficient a posteriori error estimator for the so-called pointwise tracking optimal control problem. This linear-quadratic optimal control problem entails the minimization of a cost functional that involves point evaluations of the state, thus leading to an adjoint problem with Dirac measures on the right hand side; control constraints are also considered. The proposed error estimator relies on a posteriori error estimates in the maximum norm for the state and in Muckenhoupt weighted Sobolev spaces for the adjoint state. We present an analysis that is valid for two and three-dimensional domains. We conclude by presenting several numerical experiments which reveal the competitive performance of adaptive methods based on the devised error estimator.

Ricardo H. Nochetto, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

Fractional diffusion has become a fundamental tool for the modeling of multiscale and heterogeneous phenomena. However, due to its nonlocal nature, its accurate numerical approximation is delicate. We survey our research program on the design and analysis of efficient solution techniques for problems involving fractional powers of elliptic operators. Starting from a localization PDE result for these operators, we develop local techniques for their solution: a priori and a posteriori error analyses, adaptivity and multilevel methods. We show the flexibility of our approach by proposing and analyzing local solution techniques for a space-time fractional parabolic equation.

Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We study a discretization technique for the parabolic fractional obstacle problem in bounded domains. The fractional Laplacian is realized as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic equation posed on a semi-infinite cylinder, which recasts our problem as a quasi-stationary elliptic variational inequality with a dynamic boundary condition. The rapid decay of the solution suggests a truncation that is suitable for numerical approximation. We discretize the truncation with a backward Euler scheme in time and, for space, we use first-degree tensor product finite elements. We present an error analysis based on different smoothness assumptions

Harbir Antil, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We study a linear-quadratic optimal control problem involving a parabolic equation with fractional diffusion and Caputo fractional time derivative of orders $s \in (0,1)$ and $γ\in (0,1]$, respectively. The spatial fractional diffusion is realized as the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a nonuniformly elliptic operator. Thus, we consider an equivalent formulation with a quasi-stationary elliptic problem with a dynamic boundary condition as state equation. The rapid decay of the solution to this problem suggests a truncation that is suitable for numerical approximation. We consider a fully-discrete scheme: piecewise constant functions for the control and, for the state, first-degree tensor product finite elements in space and a finite difference discretization in time. We show convergence of this scheme and, for $s \in (0,1)$ and $γ= 1$, we derive a priori error estimates.

Ricardo H. Nochetto, Enrique Otarola, Abner J. Salgado

We develop a constructive piecewise polynomial approximation theory in weighted Sobolev spaces with Muckenhoupt weights for any polynomial degree. The main ingredients to derive optimal error estimates for an averaged Taylor polynomial are a suitable weighted Poincare inequality, a cancellation property and a simple induction argument. We also construct a quasi-interpolation operator, built on local averages over stars, which is well defined for functions in $L^1$. We derive optimal error estimates for any polynomial degree on simplicial shape regular meshes. On rectangular meshes, these estimates are valid under the condition that neighboring elements have comparable size, which yields optimal anisotropic error estimates over $n$-rectangular domains. The interpolation theory extends to cases when the error and function regularity require different weights. We conclude with three applications: nonuniform elliptic boundary value problems, elliptic problems with singular sources, and fractional powers of elliptic operators.