A Discrete Divergence-Free Weak Galerkin Finite Element Method for the Stokes Equations

Abstract: A discrete divergence-free weak Galerkin finite element method is developed for the Stokes equations based on a weak Galerkin (WG) method introduced in the reference [15]. Discrete divergence-free bases are constructed explicitly for the lowest order weak Galerkin elements in two and three dimensional spaces. These basis functions can be derived on general meshes of arbitrary shape of polygons and polyhedrons. With the divergence-free basis derived, the discrete divergence-free WG scheme can eliminate the pressure variable from the system and reduces a saddle point problem to a symmetric and positive definite system with many fewer unknowns. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of this discrete divergence-free WG method.