A posteriori error analysis for variable-coefficient multiterm time-fractional subdiffusion equations

Abstract: An initial-boundary value problem of subdiffusion type is considered; the temporal component of the differential operator has the form $\sum_{i=1}^{\ell}q_i(t)\, D t ^{\alpha_i} u(x,t)$, where the $q_i$ are continuous functions, each $D _t ^{\alpha_i}$ is a Caputo derivative, and the $\alpha_i$ lie in $(0,1]$. Maximum/comparison principles for this problem are proved under weak hypotheses. A new positivity result for the multinomial Mittag-Leffler function is derived. A posteriori error bounds are obtained in $L_2(\Omega)$ and $L\infty(\Omega)$, where the spatial domain $\Omega$ lies in $\bR^d$ with $d\in{1,2,3}$. An adaptive algorithm based on this theory is tested extensively and shown to yield accurate numerical solutions on the meshes generated by the algorithm.