Superconvergence and a posteriori error estimates of RT1 mixed methods for elliptic control problems with an integral constraint

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the superconvergence property and a posteriori error estimates of mixed finite element methods for a linear elliptic control problem with an integral constraint. The state and co-state are approximated by the order k = 1 Raviart-Thomas mixed finite element spaces and the control variable is approximated by piecewise constant functions. Approximations of the optimal control of the continuous optimal control problem will be constructed by a projection of the discrete adjoint state. It is proved that these approximations have convergence order h2. Moreover, we derive a posteriori error estimates both for the control variable and the state variables. Finally, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the theoretical results.