Jérôme Droniou

Daniele A. Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou, Alexandre Ern

We design and analyze an approximation method for advection-diffusion-reaction equations where the (generalized) degrees of freedom are polynomials of order $k\ge0$ at mesh faces. The method hinges on local discrete reconstruction operators for the diffusive and advective derivatives and a weak enforcement of boundary conditions. Fairly general meshes with polytopal and nonmatching cells are supported. Arbitrary polynomial orders can be considered, including the case $k=0$ which is closely related to Mimetic Finite Difference/Mixed-Hybrid Finite Volume methods. The error analysis covers the full range of Péclet numbers, including the delicate case of local degeneracy where diffusion vanishes on a strict subset of the domain. Computational costs remain moderate since the use of face unknowns leads to a compact stencil with reduced communications. Numerical results are presented.

Daniele A. Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou

In this work, we develop and analyze a Hybrid High-Order (HHO) method for steady non-linear Leray-Lions problems. The proposed method has several assets, including the support for arbitrary approximation orders and general polytopal meshes. This is achieved by combining two key ingredients devised at the local level: a gradient reconstruction and a high-order stabilization term that generalizes the one originally introduced in the linear case. The convergence analysis is carried out using a compactness technique. Extending this technique to HHO methods has prompted us to develop a set of discrete functional analysis tools whose interest goes beyond the specific problem and method addressed in this work: (direct and) reverse Lebesgue and Sobolev embeddings for local polynomial spaces, $L^{p}$-stability and $W^{s,p}$-approximation properties for $L^{2}$-projectors on such spaces, and Sobolev embeddings for hybrid polynomial spaces. Numerical tests are presented to validate the theoretical results for the original method and variants thereof.

Daniele A. Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou, Gianmarco Manzini

In this work we develop arbitrary-order Discontinuous Skeletal Gradient Discretisations (DSGD) on general polytopal meshes. Discontinuous Skeletal refers to the fact that the globally coupled unknowns are broken polynomial on the mesh skeleton. The key ingredient is a high-order gradient reconstruction composed of two terms: (i) a consistent contribution obtained mimicking an integration by parts formula inside each element and (ii) a stabilising term for which sufficient design conditions are provided. An example of stabilisation that satisfies the design conditions is proposed based on a local lifting of high-order residuals on a Raviart-Thomas-Nédélec subspace. We prove that the novel DSGDs satisfy coercivity, consistency, limit-conformity, and compactness requirements that ensure convergence for a variety of elliptic and parabolic problems. Links with Hybrid High-Order, non-conforming Mimetic Finite Difference and non-conforming Virtual Element methods are also studied. Numerical examples complete the exposition.

Lorenzo Botti, Daniele A. Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou

In this work, we develop and analyse a novel Hybrid High-Order discretisation of the Brinkman problem. The method hinges on hybrid discrete velocity unknowns at faces and elements and on discontinuous pressures. Based on the discrete unknowns, we reconstruct inside each element a Stokes velocity one degree higher than face unknowns, and a Darcy velocity in the Raviart-Thomas-Nédélec space. These reconstructed velocities are respectively used to formulate the discrete versions of the Stokes and Darcy terms in the momentum equation, along with suitably designed penalty contributions. The proposed construction is tailored to yield optimal error estimates that are robust throughout the entire spectrum of local (Stokes- or Darcy-dominated) regimes, as identified by a dimensionless number which can be interpreted as a friction coefficient. The singular limit corresponding to the Darcy equation is also fully supported by the method. Numerical examples corroborate the theoretical results. This paper also contains two contributions whose interest goes beyond the specific method and application treated in this work: an investigation of the dependence of the constant in the second Korn inequality on star-shaped domains and its application to the study of the approximation properties of the strain projector in general Sobolev seminorms.

Daniele A. Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou

In this work, we present an abstract error analysis framework for the approximation of linear partial differential equation (PDE) problems in weak formulation. We consider approximation methods in fully discrete formulation, where the discrete and continuous spaces are possibly not embedded in a common space. A proper notion of consistency is designed, and, under a classical inf-sup condition, it is shown to bound the approximation error. This error estimate result is in the spirit of Strang's first and second lemmas, but applicable in situations not covered by these lemmas (because of a fully discrete approximation space). An improved estimate is also established in a weaker norm, using the Aubin--Nitsche trick. We then apply these abstract estimates to an anisotropic heterogeneous diffusion model and two classical families of schemes for this model: Virtual Element and Finite Volume methods. For each of these methods, we show that the abstract results yield new error estimates with a precise and mild dependency on the local anisotropy ratio. A key intermediate step to derive such estimates for Virtual Element Methods is proving optimal approximation properties of the oblique elliptic projector in weighted Sobolev seminorms. This is a result whose interest goes beyond the specific model and methods considered here. We also obtain, to our knowledge, the first clear notion of consistency for Finite Volume methods, which leads to a generic error estimate involving the fluxes and valid for a wide range of Finite Volume schemes. An important application is the first error estimate for Multi-Point Flux Approximation L and G methods. In the appendix, not included in the published version of this work, we show that classical estimates for discontinuous Galerkin methods can be obtained with simplified arguments using the abstract framework.

Jérôme Droniou, Muhammad Ilyas, Bishnu Lamichhane et al.

We consider a saddle point formulation for a sixth order partial differential equation and its finite element approximation, for two sets of boundary conditions. We follow the Ciarlet-Raviart formulation for the biharmonic problem to formulate our saddle point problem and the finite element method. The new formulation allows us to use the $H^1$-conforming Lagrange finite element spaces to approximate the solution. We prove a priori error estimates for our approach. Numerical results are presented for linear and quadratic finite element methods.

Jérôme Droniou, Robert Eymard, Alain Prignet et al.

This article performs a unified convergence analysis of a variety of numerical methods for a model of the miscible displacement of one incompressible fluid by another through a porous medium. The unified analysis is enabled through the framework of the gradient discretisation method for diffusion operators on generic grids. We use it to establish a novel convergence result in $L^\infty(0,T; L^2(Ω))$ of the approximate concentration using minimal regularity assumptions on the solution to the continuous problem. The convection term in the concentration equation is discretised using a centred scheme. We present a variety of numerical tests from the literature, as well as a novel analytical test case. The performance of two schemes are compared on these tests; both are poor in the case of variable viscosity, small diffusion and medium to small time steps. We show that upstreaming is not a good option to recover stable and accurate solutions, and we propose a correction to recover stable and accurate schemes for all time steps and all ranges of diffusion.

Jérôme Droniou, Robert Eymard, T. Gallouët et al.

We design an abstract setting for the approximation in Banach spaces of operators acting in duality. A typical example are the gradient and divergence operators in Lebesgue--Sobolev spaces on a bounded domain. We apply this abstract setting to the numerical approximation of Leray-Lions type problems, which include in particular linear diffusion. The main interest of the abstract setting is to provide a unified convergence analysis that simultaneously covers (i) all usual boundary conditions, (ii) several approximation methods. The considered approximations can be conforming, or not (that is, the approximation functions can belong to the energy space of the problem, or not), and include classical as well as recent numerical schemes. Convergence results and error estimates are given. We finally briefly show how the abstract setting can also be applied to other models, including flows in fractured medium, elasticity equations and diffusion equations on manifolds. A by-product of the analysis is an apparently novel result on the equivalence between general Poincar{é} inequalities and the surjectivity of the divergence operator in appropriate spaces.

Jérôme Droniou, Bishnu P. Lamichhane, Devika Shylaja

In this paper, we propose a unified framework, the Hessian discretisation method (HDM), which is based on four discrete elements (called altogether a Hessian discretisation) and a few intrinsic indicators of accuracy, independent of the considered model. An error estimate is obtained, using only these intrinsic indicators, when the HDM framework is applied to linear fourth order problems. It is shown that HDM encompasses a large number of numerical methods for fourth order elliptic problems: finite element methods (conforming and non-conforming) as well as finite volume methods. We also use the HDM to design a novel method, based on conforming $\mathbb{P}_1$ finite element space and gradient recovery operators. Results of numerical experiments are presented for this novel scheme and for a finite volume scheme.

Daniel Castañón Quiroz, Daniele A. Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou et al.

In this work we propose and analyze a new Hybrid High-Order method for the Brinkman problem for fluids with power-law viscosity. The proposed method supports general meshes and arbitrary approximation orders and is robust in all regimes, from pure (power-law) Stokes to pure Darcy. Robustness is reflected by error estimates that distinguish the contributions from Stokes- and Darcy-dominated elements as identified by an appropriate dimensionless number, and that additionally account for pre-asymptotic orders of convergence. Theoretical results are illustrated by a complete panel of numerical experiments.

Lourenço Beirão da Veiga, Daniele Antonio Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou

Polytopal methods provide a flexible framework for the numerical approximation of partial differential equations on general meshes. Their convergence analysis raises specific challenges due to their inherently non-conforming nature and, in many cases, the fully discrete nature of their solution. Two main techniques are considered: the virtual-function approach, used, e.g., in the context of Virtual Element Methods, and the fully discrete approach, which underlies, e.g., the Discrete de Rham method. We introduce here a novel framework based on the notion of conforming liftings, namely bounded and consistent mappings from the discrete space into the continuous space. This approach bridges the virtual and fully discrete viewpoints, clarifies the role of norm equivalence for virtual functions, and leads to a decomposition of the consistency error usable for polytopal methods. The three approaches are demonstrated on a model problem, which provides the opportunity to discuss relevant technical points. Bridges with the convergence properties of discrete differential complexes are also built.

Lorenzo Botti, Daniele Di Pietro, Jérôme Droniou

In this work we propose a novel Hybrid High-Order method for the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations based on a formulation of the convective term including Temam's device for stability. The proposed method has several advantageous features: it supports arbitrary approximation orders on general meshes including polyhedral elements and non-matching interfaces; it is inf-sup stable; it is locally conservative; it supports both the weak and strong enforcement of velocity boundary conditions; it is amenable to efficient computer implementations where a large subset of the unknowns is eliminated by solving local problems inside each element. Particular care is devoted to the design of the convective trilinear form, which mimicks at the discrete level the non-dissipation property of the continuous one. The possibility to add a convective stabilisation term is also contemplated, and a formulation covering various classical options is discussed. The proposed method is theoretically analysed, and an energy error estimate in $h^{k+1}$ (with $h$ denoting the meshsize) is proved under the usual data smallness assumption. A thorough numerical validation on two and three-dimensional test cases is provided both to confirm the theoretical convergence rates and to assess the method in more physical configurations (including, in particular, the well-known two- and three-dimensional lid-driven cavity problems).

Jérôme Droniou, Robert Eymard

We present a new finite volume scheme for anisotropic heterogeneous diffusion problems on unstructured irregular grids, which simultaneously gives an approximation of the solution and of its gradient. In the case of simplicial meshes, the approximate solution is shown to converge to the continuous ones as the size of the mesh tends to 0, and an error estimate is given. In the general case, we propose a slightly modified scheme for which we again prove the convergence, and give an error estimate. An easy implementation method is then proposed, and the efficiency of the scheme is shown on various types of grids.