In this paper, we describe an a posteriori error analysis for a conforming dual mixed scheme of the Poisson problem with non homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition. As a result, we obtain an a posteriori error estimator, which is proven to be reliable and locally efficient with respect to the usual norm on H(div;Omega) x L^2(Omega). We remark that the analysis relies on the standard Ritz projection of the error, and take into account a kind of a quasi-Helmholtz decomposition of functions in H(div;Omega), which we have established in this work. Finally, we present one numerical example that validates the well behavior of our estimator, being able to identify the numerical singularities when they exist.

In this article, we give a description of a technique to develop an a posteriori error estimator for the dual mixed methods, when applied to elliptic partial differential equations with non homogeneous mixed boundary conditions. The approach considers conforming finite elements for the discrete scheme, and a quasi‐Helmholtz decomposition result to obtain a residual a posteriori error estimator. After applying first a homogenization technique (for the Neumann boundary condition), we derive an a posteriori error estimator, which looks to be expensive to compute. This motivates the derivation of another a posteriori error estimator, that is fully computable. As a consequence, we establish the equivalence between the latter a posteriori error estimator and the natural norm of the error, that is, we prove the reliability and local efficiency of the aforementioned estimator. Finally, we report numerical examples showing the good properties of the estimator, in agreement with the theoretical results of this work.