New locally conservative finite element methods on a rectangular mesh (Q1938818)

The paper proposes a new family of locally conservative finite element methods for a rectangular mesh for solving second-order elliptic equations. The authors generate a partial differential equation-adapted local basis and solve a global matrix system arising from a flux continuity equation. Quadratic and cubic elements are analyzed and optimal order error estimates measured in the energy norm are provided for elliptic equations. Numerical examples are also discussed.