Unique continuation principles for finite-element discretizations of the Laplacian

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Cox, Graham, MacLachlan, Scott, Steeves, Luke
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Cox, Graham
MacLachlan, Scott
Steeves, Luke
author_facet Cox, Graham
MacLachlan, Scott
Steeves, Luke
contents Unique continuation principles are fundamental properties of elliptic partial differential equations, giving conditions that guarantee that the solution to an elliptic equation must be uniformly zero. Since finite-element discretizations are a natural tool to help gain understanding into elliptic equations, it is natural to ask if such principles also hold at the discrete level. In this work, we prove a version of the unique continuation principle for piecewise-linear and -bilinear finite-element discretizations of the Laplacian eigenvalue problem on polygonal domains in $\mathbb{R}^2$. Namely, we show that any solution to the discretized equation $-Δu = λu$ with vanishing Dirichlet and Neumann traces must be identically zero under certain geometric and topological assumptions on the resulting triangulation. We also provide a counterexample, showing that a nonzero \emph{inner solution} exists when the topological assumptions are not satisfied. Finally, we give an application to an eigenvalue interlacing problem, where the space of inner solutions makes an explicit appearance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_08963
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unique continuation principles for finite-element discretizations of the Laplacian
Cox, Graham
MacLachlan, Scott
Steeves, Luke
Numerical Analysis
Analysis of PDEs
Spectral Theory
Unique continuation principles are fundamental properties of elliptic partial differential equations, giving conditions that guarantee that the solution to an elliptic equation must be uniformly zero. Since finite-element discretizations are a natural tool to help gain understanding into elliptic equations, it is natural to ask if such principles also hold at the discrete level. In this work, we prove a version of the unique continuation principle for piecewise-linear and -bilinear finite-element discretizations of the Laplacian eigenvalue problem on polygonal domains in $\mathbb{R}^2$. Namely, we show that any solution to the discretized equation $-Δu = λu$ with vanishing Dirichlet and Neumann traces must be identically zero under certain geometric and topological assumptions on the resulting triangulation. We also provide a counterexample, showing that a nonzero \emph{inner solution} exists when the topological assumptions are not satisfied. Finally, we give an application to an eigenvalue interlacing problem, where the space of inner solutions makes an explicit appearance.
title Unique continuation principles for finite-element discretizations of the Laplacian
topic Numerical Analysis
Analysis of PDEs
Spectral Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08963