Linear and discontinuous approximations for optimal control problems

An optimal control problem for 2D and 3D elliptic equations is investigated with pointwise control constraints. This paper is concerned with the discretization of the control by piecewise linear but discontinuous functions. The state and the adjoint state are discretized by linear finite elements. The paper is focused on similarities and differences to piecewise constant and piecewise linear (continuous) approximation of the controls. Approximation of order h in the L(infinity)-norm is proved in the main result.