The hp-version of the boundary element method with quasi-uniform meshes for weakly singular operators on surfaces

Alexei Bespalov and Norbert Heuer
IMA J. Numer. Anal. 30 (2), 377-400, 2010.

We prove an a priori error estimate for the hp-version of the boundary element method with weakly singular operators in three dimensions. The underlying meshes are quasi-uniform. Our model problem is that of the Laplacian exterior to an open surface where the solution has strong singularities which are not L2-regular. Our results confirm previously conjectured convergence rates in h (the mesh size) and p (the polynomial degrees) and these rates are given explicitly in terms of the exponents of the singular functions. In particular, for sufficiently smooth given data we prove a convergence in the energy norm like O(h½p-1).