Residual-based a posteriori error estimation for multipoint flux mixed finite element methods

Abstract

A novel residual-type {\it a posteriori} error analysis technique is developed for multipoint flux mixed finite element methods for flow in porous media in two or three space dimensions. The derived {\it a posteriori} error estimator for the velocity and pressure error in $L^2-$norm consists of discretization and quadrature indicators, and is shown to be reliable and efficient. The main tools of analysis are a locally postprocessed approximation to the pressure solution of an auxiliary problem and a quadrature error estimate. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the competitive behavior of the estimator.