Estimates for the \(L_{2}\)-projection onto continuous finite element spaces in a weighted \(L_{p }\)-norm (Q2502324)

Let \(P\) be the orthogonal projection from \(L_{2}\) onto a continuous finite element space. The author considers estimates for \(P u\) and \(\nabla P u\) in a weighted \(L_{p}\)-norm, \(1 \leq p \leq \infty\). Using these estimates, which come from the investigation of a posteriori error estimates in the maximum norm, approximation results for \(P\) are proved. More precisely, let \(\Omega\) be a bounded polygonal domain in \(\mathbb{R}^{d}\). A triangulation \(T = \{K\}\) is a partition of \(\Omega\) into open simplices \(K\) which are face to face. Moreover, let us consider weight-functions \(\varphi\in \{\varphi\in C(\Omega):\varphi| _{K}\in C^{1}(K)\}\) that satisfy the inequality \[ | \nabla \varphi(x)| \leq \nu h_{K}^{-1} \varphi(x),\quad\forall x\in K,\;\forall K\in T, \tag{1} \] for some positive number \(\nu\), \(h_{K} := \text{diam}(\overline{K})\). For a given triangulation \(T\), let us define the piecewise constant function \(h = h(T)\) by \[ h| _{K}(x)=h_{K},\quad\forall x\in K,\;\forall K\in T. \] The author proves that for weight-functions \(\varphi\) that satisfy (1) for sufficiently small \(\nu\) we have \[ \begin{aligned} \|\varphi P u\|_{L_{p}} \leq C \|\varphi u\| _{L_{p}}, & \qquad\forall u\in L_{p},\;1\leq p \leq \infty, \\ \|\varphi \nabla P u\|_{L_{p}} \leq C \|h^{-1}\varphi u\|_{L_{p}}, & \qquad\forall u\in L_{p},\;1\leq p \leq \infty, \\ \| \varphi \nabla P u\| _{L_{p}} \leq C \|\varphi \nabla u\|_{L_{p}}, & \qquad\forall u\in W^{1}_{p},\;1\leq p \leq \infty. \end{aligned} \] Let us note that the paper is closely related to the work of \textit{K. Eriksson} and \textit{C. Johnson} [SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 32, No. 3, 706--740 (1995; Zbl 0732.65093)], but the author extends known results in several ways.