Finite elements approximation of second order linear elliptic equations in divergence form with right-hand side in \(L^1\) (Q861655)

The paper is concerned with the \(\mathbb P_1\) finite element approximation of the boundary value problem for a second order elliptic equation in divergence form, \(- \operatorname{div} A \nabla u = f\), in an open bounded set \(\Omega \subset \mathbb R^d\), \(d \geq 2\), with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. The coefficients of the matrix A are in \(L^\infty(\Omega)\) and \(f\) is in \(L^1(\Omega)\). The family of triangulations is assumed to be regular and such that the corresponding stiffness matrix is diagonally dominant. Using the ideas that lead to the definition of renormalized solution, the authors prove that the unique solution of the discrete problem converges to the unique renormalized solution of the continuous problem, strongly in \(W_0^{1,q}(\Omega)\) with \(1 \leq q < \frac{d}{d-1}\). An error estimate is provided when \(d=2\) or \(d=3\) if \(f\) belongs to \(L^r(\Omega)\) with \(1 < r< 2\), and the coefficients of the matrix \(A\) are smooth.