A Priori Error Estimates for Finite Element Methods Based on Discontinuous Approximation Spaces for Elliptic Problems

We analyze three discontinuous Galerkin approximations for solving elliptic problems in two or three dimensions. In each one, the basic bilinear form is nonsymmetric: the first one has a penalty term on edges, the second has one constraint per edge, and the third is totally unconstrained. For each of them we prove hp error estimates in the H1 norm, optimal with respect to h, the mesh size, and nearly optimal with respect to p, the degree of polynomial approximation. We establish these results for general elements in two and three dimensions. For the unconstrained method, we establish a new approximation result valid on simplicial elements. L2 estimates are also derived for the three methods.