arXiv subjects

Philipp Bringmann

Publications and source records attributed to Philipp Bringmann.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Optimal complexity of adaptive FEM for second-order linear elliptic PDEs driven by non-residual estimators, Part I: Symmetric PDEs

We consider adaptive finite element methods for symmetric second-order linear elliptic PDEs, where the adaptive algorithm steers the local mesh refinement as well as an iterative algebraic solver. Under abstract assumptions on the underlying a-posteriori error estimator and the solver, we prove that the usual adaptive algorithm leads to unconditional full R-linear convergence, independently of the user-chosen adaptivity parameters. For sufficiently small parameters, this guarantees optimal complexity in the sense that the decay rate of an appropriate quasi-error is optimal with respect to the overall computation cost (and hence time) measured in terms of the usual nonlinear approximation classes. Unlike available results in the literature, the main focus is on the analytical understanding of non-residual estimators like averaging-based estimators as proposed by Zienkiewicz and Zhu or estimators based on equilibrated fluxes.

math.NA↗

arXiv2026

Unconditional full linear convergence and quasi-optimal complexity of smoothed adaptive finite element methods

We present the first rigorous convergence analysis of the smoothed adaptive finite element method (S-AFEM) proposed in [Mulita, Giani, Heltai: SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 43, 2021]. S-AFEM modifies the classical adaptive finite element method (AFEM) by performing accurate discrete solves only on periodically determined mesh levels, while the intermediate levels employ a fixed number of cheap smoothing iterations. Numerical experiments in that work showed that this strategy generates adapted meshes comparable to those of AFEM at substantially lower computational cost. In this paper, we prove unconditional full R-linear convergence of a suitable quasi-error quantity and, for sufficiently small adaptivity parameters, optimal convergence rates with respect to the overall computational cost. The analysis requires only a mild uniform stability assumption on the employed smoother, satisfied by standard methods such as Richardson, Gauss-Seidel, conjugate gradient, and multigrid schemes. Our results apply to general second-order linear elliptic PDEs and show that S-AFEM retains all desired abstract convergence guarantees of AFEM while reducing the cumulative computational time. Numerical experiments validate the theory, analyze runtime performance, and underline the potential of S-AFEM for speed-up in AFEM computations.

math.NA↗

arXiv2025

Newton's method in adaptive iteratively linearized FEM

This paper concerns the inclusion of Newton's method into an adaptive finite element method (FEM) for the solution of nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). It features an adaptive choice of the damping parameter in the Newton iteration for the discretized nonlinear problems on each level ensuring both global linear and local quadratic convergence. In contrast to energy-based arguments in the literature, a novel approach in the analysis considers the discrete dual norm of the residual as a computable measure for the linearization error. As a consequence, this paper provides the first convergence analysis with optimal rates of an adaptive iteratively linearized FEM beyond energy-minimization problems. The presented theory applies to strongly monotone operators with locally Lipschitz continuous Fr\'echet derivative. We present a class of semilinear PDEs fitting into this framework and provide numerical experiments to underline the theoretical results.

math.NA↗

arXiv2025

Global convergence of adaptive least-squares finite element methods for nonlinear PDEs

The Zarantonello fixed-point iteration is an established linearization scheme for quasilinear PDEs with strongly monotone and Lipschitz continuous nonlinearity in Hilbert spaces. This paper presents a weighted least-squares minimization for the computation of the update of this scheme. The resulting formulation allows for a conforming least-squares finite element discretization of the primal and dual variable of the PDE with arbitrary polynomial degree. The least-squares functional provides a built-in a posteriori discretization error estimator in each linearization step motivating an adaptive Uzawa-type algorithm with an outer linearization loop and an inner adaptive mesh-refinement loop. For quasilinear PDEs in divergence form satisfying a 2-growth condition, we prove global R-linear convergence of the computed linearization iterates for arbitrary initial guesses. Particular focus is on the role of the weights in the least-squares functional of the linearized problem and their influence on the robustness of the Zarantonello damping parameter. Numerical experiments illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Iterative solvers in adaptive FEM

This chapter provides an overview of state-of-the-art adaptive finite element methods (AFEMs) for the numerical solution of second-order elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs), where the primary focus is on the optimal interplay of local mesh refinement and iterative solution of the arising discrete systems. Particular emphasis is placed on the thorough description of the essential ingredients necessary to design adaptive algorithms of optimal complexity, i.e., algorithms that mathematically guarantee the optimal rate of convergence with respect to the overall computational cost and, hence, time. Crucially, adaptivity induces reliability of the computed numerical approximations by means of a-posteriori error control. This ensures that the error committed by the numerical scheme is bounded from above by computable quantities. The analysis of the adaptive algorithms is based on the study of appropriate quasi-error quantities that include and balance different components of the overall error. Importantly, the quasi-errors stemming from an adaptive algorithm with contractive iterative solver satisfy a centerpiece concept, namely, full R-linear convergence. This guarantees that the adaptive algorithm is essentially contracting this quasi-error at each step and it turns out to be the cornerstone for the optimal complexity of AFEM. The unified analysis of the adaptive algorithms is presented in the context of symmetric linear PDEs. Extensions to goal-oriented, non-symmetric, as well as non-linear PDEs are presented with suitable nested iterative solvers fitting into the general analytical framework of the linear symmetric case. Numerical experiments highlight the theoretical results and emphasize the practical relevance and gain of adaptivity with iterative solvers for numerical simulations with optimal complexity.

math.NA↗

arXiv2023

Optimal complexity of goal-oriented adaptive FEM for nonsymmetric linear elliptic PDEs

We analyze a goal-oriented adaptive algorithm that aims to efficiently compute the quantity of interest $G(u^\star)$ with a linear goal functional $G$ and the solution $u^\star$ to a general second-order nonsymmetric linear elliptic partial differential equation. The current state of the analysis of iterative algebraic solvers for nonsymmetric systems lacks the contraction property in the norms that are prescribed by the functional analytic setting. This seemingly prevents their application in the optimality analysis of goal-oriented adaptivity. As a remedy, this paper proposes a goal-oriented adaptive iteratively symmetrized finite element method (GOAISFEM). It employs a nested loop with a contractive symmetrization procedure, e.g., the Zarantonello iteration, and a contractive algebraic solver, e.g., an optimal multigrid solver. The various iterative procedures require well-designed stopping criteria such that the adaptive algorithm can effectively steer the local mesh refinement and the computation of the inexact discrete approximations. The main results consist of full linear convergence of the proposed adaptive algorithm and the proof of optimal convergence rates with respect to both degrees of freedom and total computational cost (i.e., optimal complexity). Numerical experiments confirm the theoretical results and investigate the selection of the parameters.

math.NA↗

arXiv2023

On full linear convergence and optimal complexity of adaptive FEM with inexact solver

The ultimate goal of any numerical scheme for partial differential equations (PDEs) is to compute an approximation of user-prescribed accuracy at quasi-minimal computational time. To this end, algorithmically, the standard adaptive finite element method (AFEM) integrates an inexact solver and nested iterations with discerning stopping criteria balancing the different error components. The analysis ensuring optimal convergence order of AFEM with respect to the overall computational cost critically hinges on the concept of R-linear convergence of a suitable quasi-error quantity. This work tackles several shortcomings of previous approaches by introducing a new proof strategy. First, the algorithm requires several fine-tuned parameters in order to make the underlying analysis work. A redesign of the standard line of reasoning and the introduction of a summability criterion for R-linear convergence allows us to remove restrictions on those parameters. Second, the usual assumption of a (quasi-)Pythagorean identity is replaced by the generalized notion of quasi-orthogonality from [Feischl, Math. Comp., 91 (2022)]. Importantly, this paves the way towards extending the analysis to general inf-sup stable problems beyond the energy minimization setting. Numerical experiments investigate the choice of the adaptivity parameters.

math.NA↗

arXiv2023

Scaling-robust built-in a posteriori error estimation for discontinuous least-squares finite element methods

A convincing feature of least-squares finite element methods is the built-in a posteriori error estimator for any conforming discretization. In order to generalize this property to discontinuous finite element ansatz functions, this paper introduces a least-squares principle on piecewise Sobolev functions by the example of the Poisson model problem with mixed boundary conditions. It allows for fairly general discretizations including standard piecewise polynomial ansatz spaces on triangular and polygonal meshes. The presented scheme enforces the interelement continuity of the piecewise polynomials by additional least-squares residuals. A side condition on the normal jumps of the flux variable requires a vanishing integral mean and enables the penalization of the jump with the natural power of the mesh size in the least-squares functional. This avoids over-penalization with additional regularity assumptions on the exact solution as usually present in the literature on discontinuous LSFEM. The proof of the built-in a posteriori error estimation for the over-penalized scheme is presented as well. All results in this paper are robust with respect to the size of the domain guaranteed by a suitable weighting of the residuals in the least-squares functional. Numerical experiments illustrate the importance of the proposed weighting and exhibit optimal convergence rates of the adaptive mesh-refining algorithm for various polynomial degrees.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Review and computational comparison of adaptive least-squares finite element schemes

The convergence analysis for least-squares finite element methods led to various adaptive mesh-refinement strategies: Collective marking algorithms driven by the built-in a posteriori error estimator or an alternative explicit residual-based error estimator as well as a separate marking strategy based on the alternative error estimator and an optimal data approximation algorithm. This paper reviews and discusses available convergence results. In addition, all three strategies are investigated empirically for a set of benchmarks examples of second-order elliptic partial differential equations in two spatial dimensions. Particular interest is on the choice of the marking and refinement parameters and the approximation of the given data. The numerical experiments are reproducible using the author's software package octAFEM available on the platform Code Ocean.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Local parameter selection in the $C^0$ interior penalty method for the biharmonic equation

The symmetric $C^0$ interior penalty method is one of the most popular discontinuous Galerkin methods for the biharmonic equation. This paper introduces an automatic local selection of the involved stability parameter in terms of the geometry of the underlying triangulation for arbitrary polynomial degrees. The proposed choice ensures a stable discretization with guaranteed discrete ellipticity constant. Numerical evidence for uniform and adaptive mesh-refinement and various polynomial degrees supports the reliability and efficiency of the local parameter selection and recommends this in practice. The approach is documented in 2D for triangles, but the methodology behind can be generalized to higher dimensions, to non-uniform polynomial degrees, and to rectangular discretizations. Two appendices present the realization of our proposed parameter selection in various established finite element software packages as well as a detailed documentation of a self-contained MATLAB program for the lowest-order $C^0$ interior penalty method.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

Nonlinear discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin methods

The discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin method is a minimal residual method with broken test spaces and is introduced for a nonlinear model problem in this paper. Its lowest-order version applies to a nonlinear uniformly convex model example and is equivalently characterized as a mixed formulation, a reduced formulation, and a weighted nonlinear least-squares method. Quasi-optimal a priori and reliable and efficient a posteriori estimates are obtained for the abstract nonlinear dPG framework for the approximation of a regular solution. The variational model example allows for a built-in guaranteed error control despite inexact solve. The subtle uniqueness of discrete minimizers is monitored in numerical examples.

math.NA↗