On the finite element approximation of fourth order singularly perturbed eigenvalue problems

Abstract

We consider fourth order singularly perturbed eigenvalue problems in one-dimension and the approximation of their solution by the $h$ version of the Finite Element Method (FEM). In particular, we use piecewise Hermite polynomials of degree $p\geq 3$ defined on an {\emph{exponentially graded}} mesh. We show that the method converges uniformly, with respect to the singular perturbation parameter, at the optimal rate when the error in the eigenvalues is measured in absolute value and the error in the eigenvectors is measured in the energy norm. We also illustrate our theoretical findings through numerical computations for the case $p=3$.