A posteriori error estimates for the finite element approximation of the convection-diffusion-reaction equation based on the variational multiscale concept

Ramon Codina; Hauke Gravenkamp; Sheraz Ahmed Khan

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arXiv · 2505.02531

A posteriori error estimates for the finite element approximation of the convection-diffusion-reaction equation based on the variational multiscale concept

Ramon Codina·Hauke Gravenkamp·Sheraz Ahmed Khan

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Abstract

In this study, we employ the variational multiscale (VMS) concept to develop a posteriori error estimates for the stationary convection-diffusion-reaction equation. The variational multiscale method is based on splitting the continuous part of the problem into a resolved scale (coarse scale) and an unresolved scale (fine scale). The unresolved scale (also known as the sub-grid scale) is modeled by choosing it proportional to the component of the residual orthogonal to the finite element space, leading to the orthogonal sub-grid scale (OSGS) method. The idea is then to use the modeled sub-grid scale as an error estimator, considering its contribution in the element interiors and on the edges. We present the results of the a priori analysis and two different strategies for the a posteriori error analysis for the OSGS method. Our proposal is to use a scaled norm of the sub-grid scales as an a posteriori error estimate in the so-called stabilized norm of the problem. This norm has control over the convective term, which is necessary for convection-dominated problems. Numerical examples show the reliable performance of the proposed error estimator compared to other error estimators belonging to the variational multiscale family.

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BibTeX RIS

Ramon Codina, Hauke Gravenkamp, Sheraz Ahmed Khan. 2025-05-05. A posteriori error estimates for the finite element approximation of the convection-diffusion-reaction equation based on the variational multiscale concept. https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.02531

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