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Michael Neilan

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Neilan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

A Divergence-Free Scott-Vogelius Finite Element Method for the Surface Stokes Problem

We construct and analyze an exactly divergence-free Scott-Vogelius finite element method for the surface Stokes problem. The proposed scheme simultaneously enforces the tangentiality and incompressibility constructs exactly and has the same number of unknowns as the two-dimensional Euclidean discretization. Our construction extends the surface finite element framework of [10,11] to Scott--Vogelius discretizations defined on curved Clough--Tocher triangulations. In contrast to previous isoparametric Scott--Vogelius methods based on macro-element constructions, the present approach defines the finite element spaces directly on the refined surface triangulation, leading to a substantially simpler and more practical implementation. We prove inf-sup stability of the method and derive optimal-order convergence in the isoparametric regime.

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arXiv2026

On the convergence of iterated penalty methods for structure-preserving discretizations of saddle point problems

We present new convergence estimates for the iterated penalty method applied to structure-preserving discretizations of linear generalized saddle point systems. The method may be viewed as an Uzawa iteration on an augmented Lagrangian formulation of the system. As a by-product, we obtain sharper stability estimates for penalized/perturbed saddle point problems. Three model finite element applications show agreement with the theory.

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arXiv2025

A TraceFEM $C^0$ Interior Penalty Method for the Surface Biharmonic Equation

We construct and analyze a TraceFEM discretization for the surface biharmonic problem. The method utilizes standard quadratic Lagrange finite element spaces defined on a three-dimensional background mesh and a symmetric $C^0$ interior penalty formulation posed on a second-order polyhedral approximation of the surface. Stability is achieved through a combination of surface edge penalties and bulk-facet penalization of gradient and Hessian jumps. We prove optimal first-order convergence in a discrete $H^2$ norm and quadratic convergence in the $L^2$ norm.

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arXiv2025

A local Fortin projection for the Scott-Vogelius elements on general meshes

We construct a local Fortin projection for the Scott-Vogelius finite element pair for polynomial degree $k \ge 4$ on general shape-regular triangulations in two dimensions. In particular, the triangulation may contain singular vertices. In addition to preserving the divergence in the dual of the pressure space, the projection preserves discrete boundary data and satisfies local stability estimates.

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arXiv2025

An unfitted divergence-free higher order finite element method for the Stokes problem

The paper develops and analyzes a higher-order unfitted finite element method for the incompressible Stokes equations, which yields a strongly divergence-free velocity field up to the physical boundary. The method combines an isoparametric Scott--Vogelius velocity-pressure pair on a cut background mesh with a stabilized Nitsche/Lagrange multiplier formulation for imposing Dirichlet boundary conditions. We construct finite element spaces that admit robust numerical implementation using standard elementwise polynomial mappings and produce exactly divergence-free discrete velocities. The key components of the analysis are a new inf-sup stability result for the isoparametric Scott--Vogelius pair on unfitted meshes and a combined inf-sup stability result for the bilinear forms associated with the pressure and the Lagrange multiplier. The finite element formulation employs a higher-order Lagrange multiplier space, which ensures stability and mitigates the loss of pressure robustness typically associated with the weak enforcement of boundary conditions for the normal velocity component. The paper provides a complete stability and convergence theory in two dimensions, accounting for the geometric errors introduced by the isoparametric approximation. The analysis shows optimal-order velocity convergence in both the $H^1$ and $L^2$ norms and establishes optimal $H^1$-convergence and nearly optimal $L^2$-convergence of a post-processed pressure. Numerical experiments illustrate and confirm the theoretical findings.

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arXiv2025

A Taylor-Hood finite element method for the surface Stokes problem without penalization

Finite element approximation of the velocity-pressure formulation of the surfaces Stokes equations is challenging because it is typically not possible to enforce both tangentiality and $H^1$ conformity of the velocity field. Most previous works concerning finite element methods (FEMs) for these equations thus have weakly enforced one of these two constraints by penalization or a Lagrange multiplier formulation. Recently in [A tangential and penalty-free finite element method for the surface Stokes problem, SINUM 62(1):248-272, 2024], the authors constructed a surface Stokes FEM based on the MINI element which is tangentiality conforming and $H^1$ nonconforming, but possesses sufficient weak continuity properties to circumvent the need for penalization. The key to this method is construction of velocity degrees of freedom lying on element edges and vertices using an auxiliary Piola transform. In this work we extend this methodology to construct Taylor-Hood surface FEMs. The resulting method is shown to achieve optimal-order convergence when the edge degrees of freedom for the velocity space are placed at Gauss-Lobatto nodes. Numerical experiments confirm that this nonstandard placement of nodes is necessary to achieve optimal convergence orders.

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arXiv2025

A High-Order, Pressure-Robust, and Decoupled Finite Difference Method for the Stokes Problem

In this paper, we consider the Stokes problem with Dirichlet boundary conditions and the constant kinematic viscosity $\nu$ in an axis-aligned domain $\Omega$. We decouple the velocity $\bm u$ and pressure $p$ by deriving a novel biharmonic equation in $\Omega$ and third-order boundary conditions on $\partial\Omega$. In contrast to the fourth-order streamfunction approach, our formulation does not require $\Omega$ to be simply connected. For smooth velocity fields $\bm u$ in two dimensions, we explicitly construct a finite difference method (FDM) with sixth-order consistency to approximate $\bm u$ at all relevant grid points: interior points, boundary side points, and boundary corner points. The resulting scheme yields two linear systems $A_1u^{(1)}_h=b_1$ and $A_2u^{(2)}_h=b_2$, where $A_1,A_2$ are constant matrices, and $b_1,b_2$ are independent of the pressure $p$ and the kinematic viscosity $\nu$. Thus, the proposed method is pressure- and viscosity-robust. To accommodate velocity fields with less regularity, we modify the FDM by removing singular terms in the right-hand side vectors. Once the discrete velocity is computed, we apply a sixth-order finite difference operator to approximate the pressure gradient locally, without solving any additional linear systems. In our numerical experiments, we test both smooth and non-smooth solutions $(\bm u,p)$ in a square domain, a triply connected domain, and an $L$-shaped domain in two dimensions. The results confirm sixth-order convergence of the velocity and pressure gradient in the $\ell_\infty$-norm for smooth solutions. For non-smooth velocity fields, our method achieves the expected lower-order convergence. Moreover, the observed velocity error $\|{\bm u}_h-\bm u\|_{\infty}$ is independent of the pressure $p$ and viscosity $\nu$.

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arXiv2024

A $C^0$ interior penalty method for the stream function formulation of the surface Stokes problem

We propose a $C^0$ interior penalty method for the fourth-order stream function formulation of the surface Stokes problem. The scheme utilizes continuous, piecewise polynomial spaces defined on an approximate surface. We show that the resulting discretization is positive definite and derive error estimates in various norms in terms of the polynomial degree of the finite element space as well as the polynomial degree to define the geometry approximation. A notable feature of the scheme is that it does not explicitly depend on the Gauss curvature of the surface. This is achieved via a novel integration-by-parts formula for the surface biharmonic operator.

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arXiv2024

General degree divergence-free finite element methods for the Stokes problem on smooth domains

In this paper, we construct and analyze divergence-free finite element methods for the Stokes problem on smooth domains. The discrete spaces are based on the Scott-Vogelius finite element pair of arbitrary polynomial degree greater than two. By combining the Piola transform with the classical isoparametric framework, and with a judicious choice of degrees of freedom, we prove that the method converges with optimal order in the energy norm. We also show that the discrete velocity error converges with optimal order in the $L^2$-norm. Numerical experiments are presented, which support the theoretical results.

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arXiv2023

An Eulerian finite element method for the linearized Navier--Stokes problem in an evolving domain

The paper addresses an error analysis of an Eulerian finite element method used for solving a linearized Navier--Stokes problem in a time-dependent domain. In this study, the domain's evolution is assumed to be known and independent of the solution to the problem at hand. The numerical method employed in the study combines a standard Backward Differentiation Formula (BDF)-type time-stepping procedure with a geometrically unfitted finite element discretization technique. Additionally, Nitsche's method is utilized to enforce the boundary conditions. The paper presents a convergence estimate for several velocity--pressure elements that are inf-sup stable. The estimate demonstrates optimal order convergence in the energy norm for the velocity component and a scaled $L^2(H^1)$-type norm for the pressure component.

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arXiv2023

A tangential and penalty-free finite element method for the surface Stokes problem

Surface Stokes and Navier-Stokes equations are used to model fluid flow on surfaces. They have attracted significant recent attention in the numerical analysis literature because approximation of their solutions poses significant challenges not encountered in the Euclidean context. One challenge comes from the need to simultaneously enforce tangentiality and $H^1$ conformity (continuity) of discrete vector fields used to approximate solutions in the velocity-pressure formulation. Existing methods in the literature all enforce one of these two constraints weakly either by penalization or by use of Lagrange multipliers. Missing so far is a robust and systematic construction of surface Stokes finite element spaces which employ nodal degrees of freedom, including MINI, Taylor-Hood, Scott-Vogelius, and other composite elements which can lead to divergence-conforming or pressure-robust discretizations. In this paper we construct surface MINI spaces whose velocity fields are tangential. They are not $H^1$-conforming, but do lie in $H({\rm div})$ and do not require penalization to achieve optimal convergence rates. We prove stability and optimal-order energy-norm convergence of the method and demonstrate optimal-order convergence of the velocity field in $L_2$ via numerical experiments. The core advance in the paper is the construction of nodal degrees of freedom for the velocity field. This technique also may be used to construct surface counterparts to many other standard Euclidean Stokes spaces, and we accordingly present numerical experiments indicating optimal-order convergence of nonconforming tangential surface Taylor-Hood $\mathbb{P}^2-\mathbb{P}^1$ elements.

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arXiv2023

Discrete Elasticity Exact Sequences on Worsey-Farin Splits

We construct conforming finite element elasticity complexes on Worsey-Farin splits in three dimensions. Spaces for displacement, strain, stress, and the load are connected in the elasticity complex through the differential operators representing deformation, incompatibility, and divergence. For each of these component spaces, a corresponding finite element space on Worsey-Farin meshes is exhibited. Unisolvent degrees of freedom are developed for these finite elements, which also yields commuting (cochain) projections on smooth functions. A distinctive feature of the spaces in these complexes is the lack of extrinsic supersmoothness at subsimplices of the mesh. Notably, the complex yields the first (strongly) symmetric stress finite element with no vertex or edge degrees of freedom in three dimensions. Moreover, the lowest order stress space uses only piecewise linear functions which is the lowest feasible polynomial degree for the stress space.

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arXiv2022

Convergence of Lagrange Finite Element Methods for Maxwell Eigenvalue Problem in 3D

We prove convergence of the Maxwell eigenvalue problem using quadratic or higher Lagrange finite elements on Worsey-Farin splits in three dimensions. To do this, we construct two Fortin-like operators to prove uniform convergence of the corresponding source problem. We present numerical experiments to illustrate the theoretical results.

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arXiv2021

A CutFEM divergence-free discretization for the Stokes problem

We construct and analyze a CutFEM discretization for the Stokes problem based on the Scott-Vogelius pair. The discrete piecewise polynomial spaces are defined on macro-element triangulations which are not fitted to the smooth physical domain. Boundary conditions are imposed via penalization through the help of a Nitsche-type discretization, whereas stability with respect to small and anisotropic cuts of the bulk elements is ensured by adding local ghost penalty stabilization terms. We show stability of the scheme as well as a divergence--free property of the discrete velocity outside an $O(h)$ neighborhood of the boundary. To mitigate the error caused by the violation of the divergence-free condition, we introduce local grad-div stabilization. The error analysis shows that the grad-div parameter can scale like $O(h^{-1})$, allowing a rather heavy penalty for the violation of mass conservation, while still ensuring optimal order error estimates.

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arXiv2021

The Scott-Vogelius Method for Stokes Problem on Anisotropic Meshes

This paper analyzes the Scott-Vogelius divergence-free element pair on anisotropic meshes. Weexplore the behavior of the inf-sup stability constant with respect to the aspect ratio on meshes generated with astandard barycenter mesh refinement strategy, as well as a newly introduced incenter refinement strategy. Numericalexperiments are presented which support the theoretical results

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arXiv2021

A divergence-free finite element method for the Stokes problem with boundary correction

This paper constructs and analyzes a boundary correction finite element method for the Stokes problem based on the Scott-Vogelius pair on Clough-Tocher splits. The velocity space consists of continuous piecewise quadratic polynomials, and the pressure space consists of piecewise linear polynomials without continuity constraints. A Lagrange multiplier space that consists of continuous piecewise quadratic polynomials with respect to boundary partition is introduced to enforce boundary conditions as well as to mitigate the lack of pressure-robustness. We prove several inf-sup conditions, leading to the well-posedness of the method. In addition, we show that the method converges with optimal order and the velocity approximation is divergence free.

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arXiv2021

Low-order divergence-free approximations for the Stokes problem on Worsey-Farin and Powell-Sabin splits

We derive low-order, inf-sup stable and divergence-free finite element approximations for the Stokes problem using Worsey-Farin splits in three dimensions and Powell-Sabin splits in two dimensions. The velocity space simply consists of continuous, piecewise linear polynomials, where as the pressure space is a subspace of piecewise constants with weak continuity properties at singular edges (3D) and singular vertices (2D). We discuss implementation aspects that arise when coding the pressure space, and in particular, show that the pressure constraints can be enforced at an algebraic level.

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