On the convergence of a finite element method for a nonlinear hyperbolic conservation law

Abstract

We consider a space-time finite element discretization of a time-dependent nonlinear hyperbolic conservation law in one space dimension (Burgers’ equation). The finite element method is higher-order accurate and is a Petrov-Galerkin method based on the so-called streamline diffusion modification of the test functions giving added stability. We first prove that if a sequence of finite element solutions converges boundedly almost everywhere (as the mesh size tends to zero) to a function u, then u is an entropy solution of the conservation law. This result may be extended to systems of conservation laws with convex entropy in several dimensions. We then prove, using a compensated compactness result of Murat-Tartar, that if the finite element solutions are uniformly bounded then a subsequence will converge to an entropy solution of Burgers’ equation. We also consider a further modification of the test functions giving a method with improved shock capturing. Finally, we present the results of some numerical experiments.