Error analysis of nonconforming and mixed FEMs for second-order linear non-selfadjoint and indefinite elliptic problems

The state-of-the art proof of a global inf-sup condition on mixed finite element schemes does not allow for an analysis of truly indefinite, second-order linear elliptic PDEs. This paper, therefore, first analyses a nonconforming finite element discretization which converges owing to some a priori$$L^2$$L2 error estimates even for reduced regularity on non-convex polygonal domains. An equivalence result of that nonconforming finite element scheme to the mixed finite element method (MFEM) leads to the well-posedness of the discrete solution and to a priori error estimates for the MFEM. The explicit residual-based a posteriori error analysis allows some reliable and efficient error control and motivates some adaptive discretization which improves the empirical convergence rates in three computational benchmarks.