Discretization of the Poisson equation with non-smooth data and emphasis on non-convex domains (Q2821188)

The paper is concerned with the Poisson equation \(- \Delta y = f\) on a bounded polygonal domain \(\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^2\) with boundary conditions \(y=u\) on \(\partial \Omega\) if \(u \in L^2 \left( \partial \Omega \right)\) is not smooth enough. In this case it cannot be expected that there exists a solution \(y \in H^1 \left( \Omega \right)\). The authors discuss several approaches for solving the problem. First, they study the method of transposition that leads to a very weak formulation and discuss a choice of trial and test spaces. Furthermore, Berggren's approach is studied and it is shown that it is equivalent to the method of transposition for a particular choice of test functions. Finally, the data are regularized and the solution is computed as the standard solution of the regularized problem by the finite element method. The advantage of the regularization approach is its simplicity. Convergence of the scheme using piecewise linear functions is proved and error estimates are derived. Numerical examples show that the experimental orders of convergence correspond to the theoretical convergence rates for domains with various maximal interior angles.