Subject of this work is the analysis of numerical methods for the solution of optimal control problems governed by elliptic partial differential equations. Such problems arise, if one does not only want to simulate technical or physical processes but also wants to optimize them with the help of one or more influence variables. In many practical applications these influence variables, so called controls, cannot be chosen arbitrarily, but have to fulfill certain inequality constraints. The numerical treatment of such control constrained optimal control problems requires a discretization of the underlying infinite dimensional function spaces. To guarantee the quality of the numerical solution one has to estimate and to quantify the resulting approximation errors. In this thesis a priori error estimates for finite element discretizations are proved in case of corners or edges in the underlying domain and nonsmooth coefficients in the partial differential equation. These facts influence the regularity properties of the solution and require adapted meshes to get optimal convergence rates. Isotropic and anisotropic refinement strategies are given and error estimates in polygonal and prismatic domains are proved. The theoretical results are confirmed by numerical tests.

This special volume focuses on optimization and control of processes governed by partial differential equations. The contributors are mostly participants of the DFG-priority program 1253: Optimization with PDE-constraints which is active since 2006. The book is organized in sections which cover almost the entire spectrum of modern research in this emerging field. Indeed, even though the field of optimal control and optimization for PDE-constrained problems has undergone a dramatic increase of interest during the last four decades, a full theory for nonlinear problems is still lacking. The contributions of this volume, some of which have the character of survey articles, therefore, aim at creating and developing further new ideas for optimization, control and corresponding numerical simulations of systems of possibly coupled nonlinear partial differential equations. The research conducted within this unique network of groups in more than fifteen German universities focuses on novel methods of optimization, control and identification for problems in infinite-dimensional spaces, shape and topology problems, model reduction and adaptivity, discretization concepts and important applications. Besides the theoretical interest, the most prominent question is about the effectiveness of model-based numerical optimization methods for PDEs versus a black-box approach that uses existing codes, often heuristic-based, for optimization.

Optimization problems subject to constraints governed by partial differential equations (PDEs) are among the most challenging problems in the context of industrial, economical and medical applications. Almost the entire range of problems in this field of research was studied and further explored as part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) priority program 1253 on “Optimization with Partial Differential Equations” from 2006 to 2013. The investigations were motivated by the fascinating potential applications and challenging mathematical problems that arise in the field of PDE constrained optimization. New analytic and algorithmic paradigms have been developed, implemented and validated in the context of real-world applications. In this special volume, contributions from more than fifteen German universities combine the results of this interdisciplinary program with a focus on applied mathematics. The book is divided into five sections on “Constrained Optimization, Identification and Control”, “Shape and Topology Optimization”, “Adaptivity and Model Reduction”, “Discretization: Concepts and Analysis” and “Applications”. Peer-reviewed research articles present the most recent results in the field of PDE constrained optimization and control problems. Informative survey articles give an overview of topics that set sustainable trends for future research. This makes this special volume interesting not only for mathematicians, but also for engineers and for natural and medical scientists working on processes that can be modeled by PDEs.

This book on PDE Constrained Optimization contains contributions on the mathematical analysis and numerical solution of constrained optimal control and optimization problems where a partial differential equation (PDE) or a system of PDEs appears as an essential part of the constraints. The appropriate treatment of such problems requires a fundamental understanding of the subtle interplay between optimization in function spaces and numerical discretization techniques and relies on advanced methodologies from the theory of PDEs and numerical analysis as well as scientific computing. The contributions reflect the work of the European Science Foundation Networking Programme ’Optimization with PDEs’ (OPTPDE).

This volume provides a broad and uniform introduction of PDE-constrained optimization as well as to document a number of interesting and challenging applications. Many science and engineering applications necessitate the solution of optimization problems constrained by physical laws that are described by systems of partial differential equations (PDEs)​. As a result, PDE-constrained optimization problems arise in a variety of disciplines including geophysics, earth and climate science, material science, chemical and mechanical engineering, medical imaging and physics. This volume is divided into two parts. The first part provides a comprehensive treatment of PDE-constrained optimization including discussions of problems constrained by PDEs with uncertain inputs and problems constrained by variational inequalities. Special emphasis is placed on algorithm development and numerical computation. In addition, a comprehensive treatment of inverse problems arising in the oil and gas industry is provided. The second part of this volume focuses on the application of PDE-constrained optimization, including problems in optimal control, optimal design, and inverse problems, among other topics.

Solving optimization problems subject to constraints given in terms of partial d- ferential equations (PDEs) with additional constraints on the controls and/or states is one of the most challenging problems in the context of industrial, medical and economical applications, where the transition from model-based numerical si- lations to model-based design and optimal control is crucial. For the treatment of such optimization problems the interaction of optimization techniques and num- ical simulation plays a central role. After proper discretization, the number of op- 3 10 timization variables varies between 10 and 10 . It is only very recently that the enormous advances in computing power have made it possible to attack problems of this size. However, in order to accomplish this task it is crucial to utilize and f- ther explore the speci?c mathematical structure of optimization problems with PDE constraints, and to develop new mathematical approaches concerning mathematical analysis, structure exploiting algorithms, and discretization, with a special focus on prototype applications. The present book provides a modern introduction to the rapidly developing ma- ematical ?eld of optimization with PDE constraints. The ?rst chapter introduces to the analytical background and optimality theory for optimization problems with PDEs. Optimization problems with PDE-constraints are posed in in?nite dim- sional spaces. Therefore, functional analytic techniques, function space theory, as well as existence- and uniqueness results for the underlying PDE are essential to study the existence of optimal solutions and to derive optimality conditions.