A weak Galerkin finite element scheme for the Cahn-Hilliard equation

Abstract

This article presents a weak Galerkin (WG) finite element method for the Cahn-Hilliard equation. The WG method makes use of piecewise polynomials as approximating functions, with weakly defined partial derivatives (first and second order) computed locally by using the information in the interior and on the boundary of each element. A stabilizer is constructed and added to the numerical scheme for the purpose of providing certain weak continuities for the approximating function. A mathematical convergence theory is developed for the corresponding numerical solutions, and optimal order of error estimates are derived. Some numerical results are presented to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method.