BERNSTEIN-BEZIER FINITE ELEMENTS OF ARBITRARY ORDER AND OPTIMAL ASSEMBLY PROCEDURES

Algorithms are presented that enable the element matrices for the standard finite element space, consisting of continuous piecewise polynomials of degree n on simplicial elements in R(d), to be computed in optimal complexity O(n(2d)). The algorithms (i) take into account numerical quadrature; (ii) are applicable to nonlinear problems; and (iii) do not rely on precomputed arrays containing values of one-dimensional basis functions at quadrature points (although these can be used if desired). The elements are based on Bernstein polynomials and are the first to achieve optimal complexity for the standard finite element spaces on simplicial elements.