Adaptive finite elements for exterior domain problems (Q1272817)

The authors consider Dirichlet problems for Poisson's equation on the infinite domain exterior to a bounded, closed, simply-connected domain surrounding the origin in either two- or three-dimensional space. The boundary condition at infinity requires only that the solution approach zero at infinity; however, it is well known that under mild conditions the solution decays rapidly. This rapid decay allows the solution to be approximated using finite elements on the exterior domain truncated at large radius and with homogeneous Dirichlet condition at the far boundary. An estimate for the norm of the difference between the discrete and exact solutions on the truncated domain is proved. This estimate is then used as part of an a posteriori error estimation to identify the proper mesh density and truncation radius of a revised mesh in order to meet a specified solution error criterion. This estimation procedure in turn provides the basis for a mesh adaptation procedure. The mesh adaptation procedure involves constructing meshes that become progressively finer at the boundary nearer the origin and also cover progressively larger regions of space. Further, the mesh elements at large radius themselves are large, so that the number of discrete degrees of freedom grows as error tolerance shrinks at about the same growth rate as the usual estimates for bounded domains. The mesh adaptation procedure is presented fully and can be implemented in existing computer programs for finite domains. Numerical results are presented illustrating optimal convergence rates for linear and quadratic elements in two and three dimensions.