Cut finite element error estimates for a class of nonlinear elliptic PDEs

Motivated by many applications in complex domains with boundaries exposed to large topological changes or deformations, fictitious domain methods regard the actual domain of interest as being embedded in a fixed Cartesian background. This is usually achieved via a geometric parameterization of its boundary via level-set functions. In this note, the a priori analysis of unfitted numerical schemes with cut elements is extended beyond the realm of linear problems. More precisely, we consider the discretization of semilinear elliptic boundary value problems of the form $- \Delta u +f1(u)=f2$ with polynomial nonlinearity via the cut finite element method. Boundary conditions are enforced, using a Nitsche-type approach. To ensure stability and error estimates that are independent of the position of the boundary with respect to the mesh, the formulations are augmented with additional boundary zone ghost penalty terms. These terms act on the jumps of the normal gradients at faces associated with cut elements. A-priori error estimates are derived, while numerical examples illustrate the implementation of the method and validate the theoretical findings.