Nonconforming virtual elements for the biharmonic equation with Morley degrees of freedom on polygonal meshes

Abstract: The lowest-order nonconforming virtual element extends the Morley triangular element to polygons for the approximation of the weak solution $u\in V:=H^2_0(\Omega)$ to the biharmonic equation. The abstract framework allows (even a mixture of) two examples of the local discrete spaces $V_h(P)$ and a smoother allows rough source terms $F\in V^*=H^{-2}(\Omega)$. The a priori and a posteriori error analysis in this paper circumvents any trace of second derivatives by some computable conforming companion operator $J:V_h\to V$ from the nonconforming virtual element space $V_h$. The operator $J$ is a right-inverse of the interpolation operator and leads to optimal error estimates in piecewise Sobolev norms without any additional regularity assumptions on $u\in V$. As a smoother the companion operator modifies the discrete right-hand side and then allows a quasi-best approximation. An explicit residual-based a posteriori error estimator is reliable and efficient up to data oscillations. Numerical examples display the predicted empirical convergence rates for uniform and optimal convergence rates for adaptive mesh-refinement.