An optimal order multigrid method for biharmonic, \(C^ 1\) finite element equations (Q1117681)

We study a special multigrid method for solving large linear systems which arise from discretizing biharmonic problems by the Hsieh-Clough- Tocher, \(C^ 1\) macro finite elements or several other \(C^ 1\) finite elements. Since the multiple \(C^ 1\) finite element spaces considered are not nested, the nodal interpolation operator is used to transfer functions between consecutive levels in the multigrid method. This method converges with the optimal computational order.