Robust exponential convergence of $hp$-FEM in balanced norms for singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion equations

Abstract: The $hp$-version of the finite element method is applied to a singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion equation posed in one- and two-dimensional domains with analytic boundary. On suitably designed \emph{Spectral Boundary Layer meshes}, robust exponential convergence in a balanced norm is shown. This balanced norm is stronger than the energy norm in that the boundary layers are $O(1)$ uniformly in the singular perturbation parameter. Robust exponential convergence in the maximum norm is also established. The theoretical findings are illustrated with two numerical experiments.