A Higher Order Finite Element Method for Partial Differential Equations on Surfaces

Abstract

A new higher order finite element method for elliptic partial differential equations on a stationary smooth surface $\Gamma$ is introduced and analyzed. We assume that $\Gamma$ is characterized as the zero level of a level set function $\phi$ and only a finite element approximation $\phi_h$ (of degree $k \geq 1$) of $\phi$ is known. For the discretization of the partial differential equation, finite elements (of degree $m\geq 1$) on a piecewise linear approximation of $\Gamma$ are used. The discretization is lifted to $\Gamma_h$, which denotes the zero level of $\phi_h$, using a quasi-orthogonal coordinate system that is constructed by applying a gradient recovery technique to $\phi_h$. A complete discretization error analysis is presented in which the error is split into a geometric error, a quadrature error, and a finite element approximation error. The main result is a $H^1(\Gamma)$-error bound of the form $c(h^m + h^{k+1})$. Results of numerical experiments illustrate the higher order convergence of t...