A spectral method for an elliptic equation with a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition (Q2414709)

The authors solve numerically the Helmholtz equation $-\Delta u+\gamma u=0$ in an open domain $\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^d$, $d\geq 2$, which is assumed to be diffeomorphic to the $d$-dimensional unit ball. Here, $\gamma$ is a function which is smooth and satisfies some additional conditions. The Neumann boundary condition over $\partial \Omega$ is a function that depends nonlinearly on the function $u$. First, the authors reformulate the problem at hand in weak form. Then, a sequence of finite dimensional nonlinear problems are created through the usage of a spectral Galerkin method. Additionally, a convergence analysis is given which shows that this approximation converges to the solution of the original problem under suitable assumptions. This is achieved by standard tools for solving nonlinear integral equations where it is assumed that the existence and local uniqueness of a solution is given. Finally, numerical examples are given complementing the theory. Lastly, an existence proof for the three-dimensional problem and a nonlinearity given by the Stefan-Boltzmann law is provided.