Superconvergence of mixed finite element methods for parabolic problems with nonsmooth initial data (Q1377028)

The authors introduce a semidiscrete mixed finite element approximation to a parabolic initial value problem. They obtain estimates for the errors in pressure and volume that depend on stepsize, time, and smoothness of the initial values and that coincide for large time with known estimates for smooth solutions. They also prove superconvergence in \(L^2\) at the Gauss points.