Abstract

In this paper, we analyze a mixed form of a time-dependent eddy current problem formulated in terms of the electric field E. We show that this formulation admits a well-posed saddle point structure when the constraints satisfied by the primary unknown in the dielectric material are handled by means of a Lagrange multiplier. We use Nédélec edge elements and standard nodal finite elements to define a semi-discrete Galerkin scheme. Furthermore, we introduce the corresponding backward-Euler fully-discrete formulation and prove error estimates. © 2009 American Mathematical Society.