$L^\infty$ norm error estimates for HDG methods applied to the Poisson equation with an application to the Dirichlet boundary control problem

Abstract: We prove quasi-optimal $L^\infty$ norm error estimates (up to logarithmic factors) for the solution of Poisson's problem by the standard Hybridizable Discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method. Although such estimates are available for conforming and mixed finite element methods, this is the first proof for HDG. The method of proof is motivated by known $L^\infty$ norm estimates for mixed finite elements. We show two applications: the first is to prove optimal convergence rates for boundary flux estimates, and the second is to prove that numerically observed convergence rates for the solution of a Dirichlet boundary control problem are to be expected theoretically. Numerical examples show that the predicted rates are seen in practice.