Uniformly convergent finite element methods for singularly perturbed elliptic boundary value problems. I: Reaction-diffusion type (Q1129504)

This paper deals with a finite element method (FEM) for a singularly perturbed elliptic boundary value problem (so-called reaction-diffusion problem) \[ -\varepsilon^2\Biggl({\partial^2u\over\partial x^2}+ {\partial^2u\over\partial y^2}\Biggr)+ a(x, y)u= f(x,y), \] in \(\Omega\equiv(0,1)\times (0,1)\), \(u= 0\) on \(\partial\Omega\), where \(\varepsilon\in(0, 1]\) is a small positive parameter. The functions \(a\) and \(f\) are assumed to be sufficiently smooth in \(\Omega\) and \(a(x,y)\geq \alpha^2> 0\) in \(\Omega\). By using a very sophisticated asymptotic expansion of \textit{H. Han} and \textit{R. B. Kellogg} [SIAM J. Math. Anal. 21, No. 2, 394-408 (1990; Zbl 0732.35020)], the authors prove that the bilinear FEM on a Shishkin mesh achieves an almost second-order uniform convergence rate in \(L^2\)-norm. Numerical results are provided and discussed.