Multilevel iterative methods for mixed finite element discretizations of elliptic problems (Q1326418)

The paper deals with the construction of iterative schemes for solving discretized first order elliptic problems by the mixed finite element method on a sequence of successively refined meshes inside of a polygonal plane domain. A special multilevel decomposition of the mixed element space allows to use the theory established for multiplicative iterative methods by \textit{J. H. Bramble, J. E. Passiak, J. Wang} and \textit{J. Xu} [Math. Comput. 57, No. 195, 1-21 and 23-45 (1991; Zbl 0754.65085 and Zbl 0727.65101)], in the present context for solving systems of linear algebraic equations, corresponding to the bilinear form of the related variational problem. Bounds for the convergence factor for the constructed multiplicative iteration are given, depending on the number of discretization levels used. Further, for an additive preconditioner bounds for the condition number are considered. The theory does not impose any additional regularity on the variational problem. (A little vexation for the reader is the citation of and the comparison with a lot of papers unpublished until now!).