Analysis and computation of a least-squares method for consistent mesh tying

This paper presents a theoretical and computational study of a least-squares method for mesh tying [P. Bochev, D.M. Day, A least-squares method for consistent mesh tying, Internat. J. Numer. Anal. Modeling 4 (2007) 342-352], applied to the partial differential equation -∇2φ+αφ=f. We prove optimal convergence rates for domains represented as overlapping subdomains and show that the least-squares method passes a patch test of the order of the finite element space by construction. To apply the method to subdomain configurations with gaps and overlaps we use interface perturbations to eliminate the gaps. Theoretical error estimates are illustrated by numerical experiments.