MATH 7760 MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Fall 2001. University of Colorado at Denver


Current enrollment

PREREQUISITE:
MATH 4320: Advanced Calculus II

HOURS: TR 0530PM-0645PM CU-Dravo 656

INSTRUCTOR:
Prof. Andrew Knyazev
Office: CU (Dravo) 644. Phone: 556-8102.
Office hours: by appointment
WWW: http://www-math.cudenver.edu/~aknyazev/
Email: aknyazev@math.cudenver.edu

TEXTBOOKS:

The Mathematical Theory of Finite Elements Methods, S. Brenner, R. Scott

Strong Elliptic Systems and Boundary Integral Equations, Cambridge University Press, 2000, William McLean.

SUBJECT:
Theoretical foundations of finite element method for elliptic boundary value problems, Sobolev spaces, interpolation of Sobolev spaces, variational formulation of elliptic boundary value problems, basic error estimates, applications to elasticity, practical aspects of the finite element method.

OVERVIEW:
The objective of the class is to present the Finite Element Method for elliptic problems from a rigorous mathematical perspective. The class will cover the necessary mathematical tools. The only formal prerequisite is Advanced Calculus, but it is very helpfull to know a related material from the following courses: Applied analysis, Real Analysis, Introduction to Finite Elements, Partial Differential Equations, Numerical Solution of Partial Differential equations, Functional Analysis.

This is the highest-level graduate class. It will require an independed work and a significant intellectual effort.

CONTENTS: The class will follow the outline below, touching on each major topic in a depth that will be determined by the pace of the class.

From "Strong Elliptic Systems and Boundary Integral Equations":
Ch. 2. Abstract Linear Equations;
Ch. 3. Sobolev Spaces;
Ch. 4. Strongly Elliptic Systems.

From "The Mathematical Theory of Finite Elements Methods":
Ch. 0 Basic concepts;
Ch. 1 Sobolev spaces;
Ch. 2 Variational formulation of elliptic boundary value problems;
Ch. 3 Construction of a finite element space;
Ch. 4 Polynomial approximation theory in finite element spaces.
Ch. 5 n-dimensional variational problems.

GRADING will based on projects.