The anisotropy introduced by the mesh in the finite element approximation of the mumford-shah functional (Q4943333)

In the last years several approximations of the Mumford-Shah functional \[ \int_{\Omega\setminus K}a|\nabla u|^2+|u-g|^2+ b{\mathcal H}^1(K\cap\Omega) \] have been proposed. The aim of the paper is to provide an approximation based on a simple family of finite elements (a simplification of one previously used by Chambolle and Dal Maso), made by equilateral triangles or right isosceles ones. Due to the anisotropy of these meshes, letting the mesh size tend to 0 one does not obtain in the limit exactly the Mumford-Shah functional but rather its anisotropic version \[ \int_{\Omega\setminus K}a|\nabla u|^2+|u-g|^2+ \int_{K\cap\Omega}\varphi(\nu) d{\mathcal H}^1 \] where \(\nu\) is the measure theoretic normal to \(K\). The author is able to compute explicitly the anisotropy function in several situations of interest, proving also that the anisotropy factor \(\sup\varphi/\inf\varphi\) can be made very close to 1 with simple choices of the family of finite elements.