Note on a W1,∞(L2)-error estimate of a nonlinear finite volume scheme for a semi-linear heat equation

Abstract

We consider, as discretization in space, the nonconforming mesh developed in SUSHI (Scheme Using Stabilization and Hybrid Interfaces) developed in Eymard et al. (2010) for a semi-linear heat equation. The time discretization is performed using a uniform mesh. We are concerned with a nonlinear scheme that has been studied in Bradji (2016) in the context of the general framework GDM (Gradient Discretization Method) (Droniou et al., 2018) which includes SUSHI. We provide sufficient conditions on the size of the spatial mesh and the time step which allow to prove a W1,∞(L2)-error estimate. This error estimate can be viewed as an improvement for the W1,2(L2)-error estimate proved in Bradji (2016). The W1,∞(L2)-error estimate we want to prove in this note was stated without proof in Bradji (2016, Remark 7.2, Page 1302). Its proof is based on a comparison with an appropriately chosen auxiliary finite volume scheme along with the derivation of some new estimates on its solution.

Keywords

• Semilinear parabolic equations
• SUSHI method
• W1∞(L2)-error estimate