A theory for local, posteriori, pointwise, residual-based estimation of the finite element error (Q5949514)

When a boundary value problem for a system of partial differential equations has a classical solution, then the finite element error function is described as the solution to a different boundary value problem. For such a boundary value problem for the error a residual based a posteriori finite element method error estimation is presented. The principles ``recovery of the fluxes'' or ``splitting of the jumps'' are used as a bridge in the situation, when the error problem is inherently global but it is split into local problems utilizing a recovery of the local boundary conditions for the error on single elements or patches of elements. The actual estimator depends on the type of approximations performed. In the paper a theory is presented, which can provide a foundation for the decision which variant of residual estimators is reasonable to use regarding to the restrictions that is put on the problem. Based on the presented theory various error estimators are developed.