Error Identities for Parabolic Equations with Monotone Spatial Operators

The article studies quantitative relations (error identities) that characterize distances between exact solutions of nonlinear evolutionary problems and functions considered as approximations. The restrictions imposed on such a function are minimal and actually come down to the condition that it belongs to the same functional class as the generalized solution of the problem under consideration. Functional identities of this type reflect the most general relations between deviations from exact solutions of parabolic initial boundary value problems and those data that can be observed in a numerical experiment. The identities contain no mesh dependent constants and are valid for any function in the admissible (energy) class regardless of the method by which it was constructed. Therefore, they can serve as basic tools for deriving fully reliable a posteriori estimates of approximation errors as well as for analysis of modeling errors. The corresponding examples are discussed in the paper.