Spectral bounds of the difference Laplace operator in non-rectangular regions (Q876603)

The eigenvalue problem of the Laplace operator is considered in a two-dimensional domain, where homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions are assumed. The author investigates domains given by curvilinear triangles. Two types of grids are introduced: a uniform mesh and a domain-dependent mesh. Finite differences, which exhibit the structure of five point stars, yield a discretisation of the Laplace operator on the grids. To analyse the difference operator, an inner product is constructed, which represents a finite approximation of integrals. The author proves that the difference operator is selfadjoint and positive definite. Furthermore, bounds on the spectrum of the operator are shown for each grid type. Thereby, results from the one-dimensional case given by \textit{A. A. Samarskii} [Theory of difference schemes (Russian) Nauka, Moscow (1977; Zbl 0462.65055)] are generalised. The author presents numerical results in specific cases of curvilinear triangles like an ordinary triangle, parts of a circle and trapezoid. The bounds on the spectrum as well as the numerical simulations indicate that the minimum eigenvalue depends just on the geometry of the domain, whereas the maximum eigenvalue depends on the step sizes of the used grid and increases boundless for decreasing step sizes.