A Multigrid Method for CutFEM and its Convergence

Abstract: We develop a convergence theory for geometric multigrid with vertex-patch smoothers applied to cut finite element discretizations of the Poisson problem. The framework addresses non-inherited level forms and the mismatch between the physical and active domains. Using the discrete extension property, we prove two-level convergence bounds uniform in the mesh size and the cut geometry, and W-cycle bounds under an additional smallness assumption on the two-level rate. The numerical experiments intentionally use the stronger V-cycle, for which no convergence bound is claimed here. The convergence constants degrade with the degree $p$. Lowering the ghost penalty improves iteration counts. An aligned two-cell model exhibits a semidefiniteness threshold of order $p<sup>{-2}$, whereas the visibility scale of a degree-$p$ cut mode decreases exponentially. Experiments at the model threshold reduce the iteration counts, but do not establish an assembled-operator threshold.