Numerical verification of solutions for obstacle problems using a Newton-like method (Q1570139)

The paper describes a method which automatically proves the existence of solutions for variational inequalities by computer (it is a continuation of the author's joint preceeding study with \textit{M. T. Nakao} [Numer. Math. 81, No. 2, 305-320 (1998; Zbl 0919.65043)]). This approach enables one to remove the restriction in the previous paper to the retraction property of the operator in a neighborhood of the solution. Main result: The author's method can be applied to general variational inequalities without retraction property of the associated operator. Due to a Newton-like operator and explicit a priori error estimates, a set of functions which satisfy the hypothesis of Schauder's fixed-point theorem for the compact map on a certain Sobolev space, is constructed. Particularly, the essentially new technique in the present paper is the way to devise a Newton-like operator for a kind of nondifferentiable map which defines the original problem. The fixed-point formulation to prove the existence of a solution of the obstacle problem is proposed. Finally, a computer algorithm to construct the set satisfying the verification conditions is proposed and some numerical examples are presented.