A Petrov-Galerkin spectral method for fourth-order problems

In this paper, we consider the Petrov–Galerkin spectral method for fourth-order elliptic problems on rectangular domains subject to non-homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. We derive some sharp results on the orthogonal approximations in one and two dimensions, which play important roles in numerical solutions of higher-order problems. By applying these results to a fourth-order problem, we establish the H2-error and L2-error bounds of the Petrov–Galerkin spectral method. Numerical experiments are provided to illustrate the high accuracy of the proposed method and coincide well with the theoretical analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.