Hybridization and postprocessing in finite element exterior calculus

Abstract

We hybridize the methods of finite element exterior calculus for the Hodge-Laplace problem on differential $k$-forms in $\mathbb{R}^n$. In the cases $k = 0$ and $k = n$, we recover well-known primal and mixed hybrid methods for the scalar Poisson equation, while for $0 < k < n$, we obtain new hybrid finite element methods, including methods for the vector Poisson equation in $n = 2$ and $n = 3$ dimensions. We also generalize Stenberg postprocessing from $k = n$ to arbitrary $k$, proving new superconvergence estimates. Finally, we discuss how this hybridization framework may be extended to include nonconforming and hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin methods.