Keywords:
In this paper, we give a new approach to the finite element approximation for the problem of variational in- equality with noncoercive operator. This problem arises in stochastic control (see [10]). We consider a domain which is the union of two overlapping sub-domains where each sub-domain has its own generated triangulation. To prove the main result of this work, we construct two sequences of subsolutions and we estimate the errors between Schwarz iterates and the subsolutions. The proof stands on a Lipschitz continuous dependency with respect to the source term for variational inequality, while in [5] the proof stands on a Lipschitz continuous dependency with respect to the boundary condition.
The paper is organized as follows. In Sections 2, we introduce the continuous and discrete obstacle problem as well as Schwarz algorithm with two sub-domains and give the geometrical convergence theorem. In Section 3, we establish two sequences of subsolutions and their error estimates and prove a main result concerning the error estimate of solution in the
-norm, taking into account the combination of geometrical convergence and uniform convergence [11,12] of finite element approximation.
2. Schwarz Algorithm for Variational Inequalities with Noncoercive Operator
2.1. Notations and Assumptions
Let’s consider functions
(1)
such that
(2)
(3)
where
is a connected bounded domain in
with sufficiently regular boundary
.
We define a second order differential operator
(4)
where the bilinear form associated: 
(5)
Let
be a function in
(6)
an obstacle
(7)
a regular function
defined on
such that
(8)
AM and a nonempty convex set
(9)
We assume there exists
large enough and a constant
such that
(10)
Putting
(11)
then the bilinear form
is strongly coercive.
Let
be the solution of variational inequality (V.I)
(12)
which is equivalent to
(13)
denotes the usual inner product in ![]()
We define
the solution of the following V.I
(14)
where
and
is a mapping from
into itself.
Remark 1. We call quasi-variational inequality (Q.V.I) if the right hand side
depends of solution
, in the contrary case we call variational inequality (V.I).
2.2. Some Preliminary Results on the V.I Noncoercive
Thanks to [10], the problem (12) has one and only one solution, moreover
satisfies the regularity property
![]()
We give a monotonicity property of the solution with respect to both the source term, the boundary condition and the obstacle. Let
be a pair of data and
the correspond- ing solution of V.I (12).
Lemma 1 [10] Under the preceding notations and assumptions (1) to (11), if
and
, then
.
Let
be the set of sub-solutions of the Q.V.I, ie all the
such that
(15)
that is equivalent to
![]()
Lemma 2 [10] Under the preceding notations and assumptions (1) to (11), the solution
of problem (12) is the maximum element of the set
.
We show the Lipschitz property, which gives the continuous dependance to the data
.
Lemma 3 Under the preceding notations and assumptions (1) to (11), we have
![]()
where
is an independent constant of data.
Proof Firstly, let
![]()
we have
![]()
then
![]()
and
![]()
if we put
![]()
then
![]()
therefore
![]()
Secondly, it is clear that
![]()
and
![]()
![]()
so, due to lemma 1, we get
![]()
which gives
![]()
by changing the roles of
and
we obtain
![]()
which completes the proof.
Remark 2 If
and
, then we have
![]()
Let
be decomposed into triangles and let
denote the set of those elements;
is the mesh-size. We assume the triangulation
is regular and quasi-uniform. Let
denote the standard piecewise linear finite element space and by
the basis functions of the space
. Let
be the usual restriction operator in
. The discrete counterpart of (13) consists of finding
solution of
(16)
where
(17)
is an interpolation operator on ![]()
We shall assume that the matrix
defined by
(18)
is
-matrix [13] (i.e. angles of triangles of
are
).
2.3. The Continuous Schwarz Algorithm
Consider the model obstacle problem: find
such that
(19)
where
defined in (9) with
.
We decompose
into two overlapping polygonal subdomains
and
such that
![]()
and
satisfies the local regularity property
![]()
we denote
the boundary of
and
The intersection of
and
is assumed to be empty. We will always assume to simplify that
are smooth.
For
we define
![]()
We associate with problem (19) the following system: find
solution of
(20)
where
![]()
![]()
Starting from
we define the continuous Schwarz sequences
on
such that
solves
(21)
and
on
such that
solves
(22)
where
![]()
![]()
The following geometrical convergence is due to ([2], pages 51-63)
Theorem 1 The sequences
and
of the Schwarz algorithm converge geometrically to the solution of the problem (20). More precisely, there exist two constants
such that for all ![]()
![]()
![]()
2.4. The Discretization
For
; let
be a standard regular and quasi-uniform finite element triangulation in
,
being the mesh size. We assume that the two triangulations are mutually independent on
where a triangle belonging to one triangulation does not necessarily belong to the other. Let
be the space of continuous piecewise linear functions on
which vanish on
For
we define
![]()
where
denotes a suitable interpolation operator on
We give the discrete counterparts of Schwarz algorithm defined in (21) and (22) as follows.
Starting from
we define the discrete Schwarz sequence
on
such that
solves
(23)
and on
the sequence
solves
(24)
We will also always assume that the respective matrices resulting from problems (23) and (24) are
- matrices.
3. Error Analysis
This section is devoted to the proof of the main result of this work. For that, we begin by introducing two auxi- liary sequences.
3.1. Auxiliary Schwarz Sequences
To simplify the notation, we take
![]()
Let
be the solution of discrete V.I
(25)
where
is the solution of continuous V.I (21) (resp. (22)) and let
be the solution of continuous V.I
(26)
where
is the solution of discrete V.I. (23) (resp. (24)).
It is clear that
is the finite element approximation of
Then, as
(independent of
), therefore, we apply the error estimate for variational inequality (see [11,12]), we get
(27)
similarly, we have
(28)
3.2. Sequences of Sub-Solutions
The following theorems will play a important role in proving the main result of this paper.
3.2.1. Part One―Discrete Sub-Solution
We construct a discrete function
near
such that: ![]()
Theorem 2 Let
be the solution of (25). Then there exists a function
and a constant
independent of
and
such that
![]()
Proof Let us give the proof for
. The one for
is similar. Indeed,
being the solution of V.I (25) for
, it is easy to show that
is also a subsolution, i.e
![]()
then
![]()
so, due to lemma 2 (discrete case), it follows that
(29)
where
![]()
setting
and using both remak2 (discrete case) and estimate (27), we get
(30)
which combined with (29) yields
![]()
Thus, we choose
![]()
then
![]()
and
![]()
3.2.2. Part Two―Continuous Sub-Solution
We construct a continuous function
near
such that: ![]()
Theorem 3 Let
be the solution of (26). Then there exists a function
and a constant
independent of
and
such that
![]()
Proof Let us give the proof for
. The one for
is similar. indeed,
being the solution of V.I (26) for
, it is also a subsolution, i.e.
![]()
then
![]()
so, making use of lemma 2, we obtain
(31)
where
![]()
Setting
and using both Remark 2 and estimate (28), we get
(32)
so, combining (31) with estimate (32) yields
![]()
Finally, choosing
![]()
we get immediately the results.
3.3. L∞-Error Estimate
Theorem 4
Let
(resp.
) be the solution of (21), (22) (resp. (23), (24)). Then there exists a constant
independent of
and
such that
![]()
Proof Thanks to theorem 2 and theorem 3, we have
![]()
![]()
therefore
(33)
moreover
![]()
let
then making use of Theorem 1 and estimate (33), we get
![]()
we choose
such that
![]()
then
![]()
and by inverse inequality, we get
![]()
4. Conclusion
We have established a convergence order of Schwarz algorithm for two overlapping subdomains with non- matching grids. This approach developed in this paper relies on the geometrical convergence and the error estimate between the continuous and discrete Schwarz iterates. The constant c in error estimate is independent of Schwarz iterate n.
References