A linear implicit Euler method for the finite element discretization of a controlled stochastic heat equation

• We consider a numerical approximation of a linear quadratic control problem constrained by the stochastic heat equation with nonhomogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. This involves a combination of distributed and boundary control, as well as both distributed and boundary noise. We apply the finite element method for the spatial discretization and the linear implicit Euler method for the temporal discretization. Due to the low regularity induced by the boundary noise, convergence orders above 1/2 in space and 1/4 in time cannot be expected. We prove such optimal convergence orders for our full discretization when the distributed noise and the initial condition are sufficiently smooth. Under less smooth conditions the convergence order is further decreased. Our results only assume that the related (deterministic) differential Riccati equation can be approximated with a certain convergence order, which is easy to achieve in practice. We confirm these theoretical results through a numerical experiment in a two-dimensional domain.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Matematik -- Beräkningsmatematik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Mathematics -- Computational Mathematics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Convergence analysis

Full discretization

Heat conduction

Optimal control

Stochastic partial differential equation

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)