Discrete maximum principles for finite element solutions of nonlinear elliptic problems with mixed boundary conditions

One of the most important problems in numerical simulations is the preservation of qualitative properties of solutions of the mathematical models by computed approximations. For problems of elliptic type, one of the basic properties is the (continuous) maximum principle. In our work, we present several variants of the maximum principles and their discrete counterparts for (scalar) second-order nonlinear elliptic problems with mixed boundary conditions. The problems considered are numerically solved by the continuous piecewise linear finite element approximations built on simplicial meshes. Sufficient conditions providing the validity of the corresponding discrete maximum principles are presented. Geometrically, they mean that the employed meshes have to be of acute or nonobtuse type, depending of the type of the problem. Finally some examples of real-life problems, where the preservation of maximum principles plays an important role, are presented.