A Posteriori Error Estimation of hp-dG Finite Element Methods for Highly Indefinite Helmholtz Problems (extended version)

Abstract: In this paper, we will consider an $hp$-finite elements discretization of a highly indefinite Helmholtz problem by some dG formulation which is based on the ultra-weak variational formulation by Cessenat and Depr\'{e}s. We will introduce an a posteriori error estimator and derive reliability and efficiency estimates which are explicit with respect to the wavenumber and the discretization parameters $h$ and $p$. In contrast to the conventional conforming finite element method for indefinite problems, the dG formulation is unconditionally stable and the adaptive discretization process may start from a very coarse initial mesh. Numerical experiments will illustrate the efficiency and robustness of the method.