Optimal BV estimates for a discontinuous Galerkin method for linear elasticity

Abstract

We analyze a discontinuous Galerkin method for linear elasticity. The discrete formulation derives from the Hellinger-Reissner variational principle with the addition of stabilization terms analogous to those previously considered by others for the Navier-Stokes equations and a scalar Poisson equation. For our formulation, we first obtain convergence in a mesh-dependent norm and in the natural mesh-independent BD norm. We then prove a generalization of Korn's second inequality which allows us to strengthen our results to an optimal, mesh-independent BV estimate for the error.