Polytopal templates for the formulation of semi-continuous vectorial finite elements of arbitrary order

Abstract: The Hilbert spaces $H(\mathrm{curl})$ and $H(\mathrm{div})$ are needed for variational problems formulated in the context of the de Rham complex in order to guarantee well-posedness. Consequently, the construction of conforming subspaces is a crucial step in the formulation of viable numerical solutions. Alternatively to the standard definition of a finite element as per Ciarlet, given by the triplet of a domain, a polynomial space and degrees of freedom, this work aims to introduce a novel, simple method of directly constructing semi-continuous vectorial base functions on the reference element via polytopal templates and an underlying $H^1$-conforming polynomial subspace. The base functions are then mapped from the reference element to the element in the physical domain via consistent Piola transformations. The method is defined in such a way, that the underlying $H^1$-conforming subspace can be chosen independently, thus allowing for constructions of arbitrary polynomial order. The base functions arise by multiplication of the basis with template vectors defined for each polytope of the reference element. We prove a unisolvent construction of N\'ed\'elec elements of the first and second type, Brezzi-Douglas-Marini elements, and Raviart-Thomas elements. An application for the method is demonstrated with two examples in the relaxed micromorphic model