A least-squares space-time approach for parabolic equations

Abstract: We propose a least-squares formulation for parabolic equations in the natural $L^2(0,T;V^*)\times H$ norm which avoids regularity assumptions on the data of the problem. For the abstract heat equation the resulting bilinear form then is symmetric, continuous, and coercive. This among other things paves the ground for classical space-time a priori and a posteriori Galerkin frameworks for the numerical approximation of the solution of the abstract heat equation. Moreover, the approach is applicable in e.g. optimal control problems with (parametrized) parabolic equations, and for certification of reduced basis methods with parabolic equations.