Robust adaptive hp discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods for the Helmholtz equation

Abstract

This paper presents an $hp$ a posteriori error analysis for the 2D Helmholtz equation that is robust in the polynomial degree $p$ and the wave number $k$. For the discretization, we consider a discontinuous Galerkin formulation that is unconditionally well posed. The a posteriori error analysis is based on the technique of equilibrated fluxes applied to a shifted Poisson problem, with the error due to the nonconformity of the discretization controlled by a potential reconstruction. We prove that the error estimator is both reliable and efficient, under the condition that the initial mesh size and polynomial degree is chosen such that the discontinuous Galerkin formulation converges, i.e., it is out of the regime of pollution. We confirm the efficiency of an $hp$-adaptive refinement strategy based on the presented robust a posteriori error estimator via several numerical examples.