A posteriori error estimators for second order elliptic systems. I: Theoretical foundations and a posteriori error analysis (Q1203717)

This is the first one in a series of two papers dealing with a posteriori error estimation for \(h-p\) finite element approximation of second order elliptic systems. The authors present the fundamental ideas behind the error estimator and the theoretical foundations for the proposed method. The algorithmical details are promised in the second paper. The method is addressed only for so called weakly coupled problems, that means that the individual equations comprising the system are coupled through the first and zeroth order terms only. A key issue when dealing with nonsymmetric operators and systems of equations is the choice of norm in which to estimate the error. The general approach to this question is presented, based on the element residual method. The authors first introduce the model problem in which they are interested. Second they give the notation to be used and therefor third, present some preliminaries for a posteriori error analysis. The fourth step deals with localization and duality theory. Finally the reliability of the error estimator is discussed.