$p$ and $rp$-Spectral Element Methods for Two-dimensional Elliptic Boundary Layer Problems

Abstract

We propose $p$ and $rp$-spectral element methods for elliptic boundary layer problems on two dimensional rectangular domains. To resolve boundary layers, we use $p$-version with a fixed mesh and an $rp$-version with a boundary layer mesh consisting of thin needle-like elements near the boundary layer and coarse elements away from the layer. Stability estimates are derived using non-conforming spectral element functions. The numerical scheme for both the methods is based on minimising a least-squares functional in appropriate Sobolev norms. We construct robust preconditioners to manage the condition number of the normal equations derived from the least-squares formulation. The method is able to approximate boundary layers at a rate $O\left(\frac{\log W}{W^2}\right)$ for the $p$-version and at the rate $O(εα^{2W})$, uniformly in $ε$, for the $rp$-version, where $0<ε\leq1$ is the boundary layer parameter, $α<1$ is a constant and $W$ denotes the degree of the approximating polynomial. Numerical results are provided for model elliptic boundary layer problems for a range of boundary layer parameters. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the method in capturing boundary layers on rectangular domains.