Numerical solution of parabolic integro-differential equations by the discontinuous Galerkin method

The numerical solution of a parabolic equation with memory is considered. The equation is first discretized in time by means of the discontinuous Galerkin method with piecewise constant or piecewise linear approximating functions. The analysis presented allows variable time steps which, as will be shown, can then efficiently be selected to match singularities in the solution induced by singularities in the kernel of the memory term or by nonsmooth initial data. The combination with finite element discretization in space is also studied.