Optimal error estimates of two mixed finite element methods for parabolic integro-differential equations with nonsmooth initial data (Q1955943)

The Cauchy-Dirichlet mixed problem, with homogeneous boundary condition and L\(^{2}\)-nonsmooth initial data, for parabolic linear integro-differential equations is investigated for finite element approximation of the solution. Firstly, some a priori bounds and regularity results are discussed in order to be used in the proof of the main theorems. A new mixed finite element Galerkin method is proposed proving the error estimate with optimal convergence rate, as the main result of the paper. Introducing the extended mixed Ritz-Volterra projections, the corresponding error estimates are discussed in order to be used for obtaining the proof of the main result. A superconvergence property is obtained as a consequence of this main result. Moreover, the L\(^{2}\)-error estimates for the standard mixed method with optimal order of convergence are obtained under general settings. The optimal L\(^{2}\)-error estimates are derived without using parabolic type duality techniques or resolvent operators, being an improvement of the known results and an extension from smooth to nonsmooth initial data.