. We consider two level overlapping Schwarz domain decomposition methods for solving the finite element problems that arise from discretizations of elliptic problems on general unstructured meshes in two and three dimensions. Standard finite element interpolation from the coarse to the fine grid may be used. Our theory requires no assumption on the substructures which constitute the whole domain, so each substructure can be of arbitrary shape and of different size. The global coarse mesh is allowed to be non-nested to the fine grid on which the discrete problem is to be solved and both the coarse meshes and the fine meshes need not be quasi-uniform. In addition, the domains defined by the fine and coarse grid need not be identical. The one important constraint is that the closure of the coarse grid must cover any portion of the fine grid boundary for which Neumann boundary conditions are given. In this general setting, our algorithms have the same optimal convergence rate of the usual ...

The mortar finite element method allows the coupling of different discretization schemes and triangulations across subregion boundaries. In the original mortar approach the matching at the interface is realized by enforcing an orthogonality relation between the jump and a modified trace space which serves as a space of Lagrange multipliers. In this paper, this Lagrange multiplier space is replaced by a dual space without losing the optimality of the method. The advantage of this new approach is that the matching condition is much easier to realize. In particular, all the basis functions of the new method are supported in a few elements. The mortar map can be represented by a diagonal matrix; in the standard mortar method a linear system of equations must be solved. The problem is considered in a positive definite nonconforming variational as well as an equivalent saddle-point formulation.

Abstract. We prove convergence of adaptive finite element methods (AFEM) for general (nonsymmetric) second order linear elliptic PDE, thereby extending the result of Morin et al [6, 7]. The proof relies on quasi-orthogonality, which accounts for the bilinear form not being a scalar product, together with novel error and oscillation reduction estimates, which now do not decouple. We show that AFEM is a contraction for the sum of energy error plus oscillation. Numerical experiments, including oscillatory coefficients and convection-diffusion PDE, illustrate the theory and yield optimal meshes.

ABSTRACT. Adaptive multilevel finite element methods are developed and analyzed for certain elliptic systems arising in geometric analysis and general relativity. This class of nonlinear elliptic systems of tensor equations on manifolds is first reviewed, and then adaptive multilevel finite element methods for approximating solutions to this class of problems are considered in some detail. Two a posteriori error indicators are derived, based on local residuals and on global linearized adjoint or dual problems. The design of Manifold Code (MC) is then discussed; MC is an adaptive multilevel finite element software package for 2- and 3-manifolds developed over several years at Caltech and UC San Diego. It employs a posteriori error estimation, adaptive simplex subdivision, unstructured algebraic multilevel methods, global inexact Newton methods, and numerical continuation methods for the numerical solution of nonlinear covariant elliptic systems on 2- and 3-manifolds. Some of the more interesting features of MC are described in detail, including some new ideas for topology and geometry representation in simplex meshes, and an unusual partition of unity-based method for exploiting parallel computers. A short example is then given which involves the Hamiltonian and momentum constraints in the Einstein equations, a representative nonlinear 4-component covariant elliptic system on a Riemannian 3-manifold which arises in general relativity. A number of operator properties and solvability results recently established are first summarized, making possible two quasi-optimal a priori error estimates for Galerkin approximations which are then derived. These two results complete the theoretical framework for effective use of adaptive multilevel finite element methods. A sample calculation using the MC software is then presented.

Abstract. Two-level additive Schwarz preconditioners are developed for the nonconforming P1 finite element approximation of scalar second-order symmetric positive definite elliptic boundary value problems, the Morley finite element approximation of the biharmonic equation, and the divergence-free nonconforming P1 finite element approximation of the stationary Stokes equations. The condition numbers of the preconditioned systems are shown to be bounded independent of mesh sizes and the number of subdomains in the case of generous overlap. 1.

Using new methods for the parallel solution of elliptic partial di#erential equations, the teraflops computing power of massively parallel computers can be leveraged to perform electrostatic calculations on large biological systems. This paper describes the adaptive multilevel finite element solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for a microtubule on the NPACI IBM Blue Horizon supercomputer. The microtubule system is 40 nm in length and 24 nm in diameter, consists of roughly 600,000 atoms, and has a net charge of-1800 e. Poisson-Boltzmann calculations are performed for several processor configurations and the algorithm shows excellent parallel scaling.

Abstract. We propose a substructuring preconditioner for solving threedimensional elliptic equations with strongly discontinuous coefficients. The new preconditioner can be viewed as a variant of the classical substructuring preconditioner proposed by Bramble, Pasiack and Schatz (1989), but with much simpler coarse solvers. Though the condition number of the preconditioned system may not have a good bound, we are able to show that the convergence rate of the PCG method with such substructuring preconditioner is nearly optimal, and also robust with respect to the (possibly large) jumps of the coefficient in the elliptic equation. 1.

. The purpose of this paper is to give a unified investigation of a class of nonoverlapping domain decomposition methods for solving second-order elliptic problems in two and three dimensions. The methods under scrutiny fall into two major categories: the substructuring--type methods and the Neumann--Neumann-type methods. The basic framework used for analysis is the parallel subspace correction method or additive Schwarz method, and other technical tools include local-global and global-local techniques. The analyses for both two- and three-dimensional cases are carried out simultaneously. Some internal relationships between various algorithms are observed and several new variants of the algorithms are also derived. Key words. nonoverlapping domain decomposition, Schur complement, local-global and globallocal techniques, jumps in coe#cients, substructuring, Neumann--Neumann, balancing methods AMS subject classifications. 65N30, 65N55, 65F10 PII. S0036144596306800 1. Introduction. T...

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This paper is concerned with the mortar finite element method for three spatial variables. The two main issues are the proof of the LBB condition based on appropriate choices of Lagrange multipliers and optimal efficiency of corresponding multigrid schemes for the whole coupled systems of equations. The implementation of the smoothing procedure also differs from that one used in the 2-dimensional case. Key words: Mortar method, domain decomposition, saddle point problems, L 2 - stability of mortar projections, multigrid algorithms, error estimates, efficiency of smoothing procedures. AMS subject classification: 65N55, 65N30, 65F10, 46E35. 1 Introduction The mortar method is a domain decomposition method with non-overlapping subdomains, see e.g. [1, 2, 3, 6]. The matching of discretizations on adjacent subdomains is only enforced weakly which, in particular, facilitates employing different types of discretizations on different subdomains. Even in the case when only finite elements are ...