An Error Analysis for the Finite Element Approximation to the Steady-State Poisson-Nernst-Planck Equations

Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations are a coupled system of nonlinear partial differential equations consisting of the Nernst-Planck equation and the electrostatic Poisson equation with delta distribution sources, which describe the electrodiffusion of ions in a solvated biomolecular system. In this paper, some error bounds for a piecewise finite element approximation to this problem are derived. Several numerical examples including biomolecular problems are shown to support our analysis. AMS subject classifications: 65N30, 92C40

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