A \(p\)-th degree immersed finite element for boundary value problems with discontinuous coefficients (Q1015919)

Immersed finite element methods for numerical solution of linear differential equations with discontinuous coefficients allow the use of a mesh independent of the discontinuities, but require the basis functions to satisfy the jump conditions at the discontinuities. The authors develop and analyze a class of \(p\)th degree immersed finite element spaces for a model ordinary differential equation and show that under \(h\) refinement it produces optimal O\((h^{p+1})\) and O\((h^p)\) convergence in the \(L^2\) and \(H^1\) norms respectively. Numerical evidence is provided of exponential convergence under \(p\) refinement.