A posteriori error estimation and adaptivity in $hp$ virtual elements

Abstract

An explicit and computable error estimator for the $hp$ version of the virtual element method (VEM), together with lower and upper bounds with respect to the exact energy error, is presented. Such error estimator is employed to provide $hp$ adaptive mesh refinements for very general polygonal meshes. In addition, a novel VEM $hp$ Cl\'ement quasi-interpolant, instrumental for the a posteriori error analysis, is introduced. The performances of the adaptive method are validated by a number of numerical experiments.