A posteriori error estimates for fem–bem couplings of three-dimensional electromagnetic problems

Abstract We present residual based and p -hierarchical a posteriori error estimators for a Galerkin method coupling finite elements and boundary elements for time–harmonic interface problems in electromagnetics; special emphasis is taken for the eddy current problem. The Galerkin discretization uses lowest order Nedelec elements in the interior domain and vectorial surface rotations of continuous, piecewise linear functions on the interface boundary. Singular, weakly singular and hypersingular boundary integral operators appearing in the variational formulation show up in the terms of the error estimators as well. The estimators are derived from the defect equation using Helmholtz and Hodge decompositions. Numerical tests underline reliability and efficiency of the given error estimators yielding reasonable mesh refinements.

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