CENTER FOR COMPUTATIONAL MATHEMATICS COLLOQUIUM

                  UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT DENVER



TITLE:   Special Finite Element Methods for Elliptic Problems 
         with Rough Coefficients
 

SPEAKER: John Osborn, Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland
         

DATE:    Monday, December 9, 1996

PLACE:   Math Conference Room - Suite 540 
         UCD Building, 1250 14th St., Denver

TIME:    noon (Refreshments served at 11:45 am)



ABSTRACT

In this lecture we consider the approximate solution of a class of second 
order, two dimensional elliptic equations with rough or highly oscillatory 
coefficients. Problems of the type considered arise in the analysis of 
unidirectional composites, where the coefficients represent material 
properties. Several approximation methods for this class of problems are 
discussed, and they are shown to have the same accuracy as usual methods for 
problems with smooth coefficients. The methods are referred to as special 
finite element methods because they are of finite element type, but employ 
special shape functions that reflect the coefficients in such a way that they
can accurately model the unknown solution.