Contributing to DefElement

Suggesting additions and corrections

If you find an error or inaccuracy in a DefElement entry, please open an issue on GitHub. You can also open an issue to suggest a new element that should be added to the database.

Contributing directly

You can contribute to DefElement by forking the DefElement GitHub repo, making changes, then opening a pull request.

The functional information and examples on the element pages are generated using Symfem, a symbolic finite element definition library. Before adding an element to DefElement, it should first be implemented in Symfem.

Defining an element

Elements in the DefElement database are defined using a yaml file in the elements/ folder. The full file for a Lagrange element is:

name: Lagrange
html-name: Lagrange
alt-names:
  - Polynomial
  - Galerkin
  - DGT
  - Hdiv trace
  - Q (quadrilateral and hexahedron)
notes:
  - DGT and Hdiv trace are names given to this element when it is defined on the facets of a mesh.
short-names:
  - P
  - CG
  - DG
exterior-calculus:
  - P-,0,simplex
  - P,0,simplex
  - Q-,0,tp
ndofs:
  interval:
    formula: k+1
    oeis: A000027
  triangle:
    formula: (k+1)(k+2)/2
    oeis: A000217
  tetrahedron:
    formula: (k+1)(k+2)(k+3)/6
    oeis: A000292
  quadrilateral:
    formula: (k+1)^2
    oeis: A000290
  hexahedron:
    formula: (k+1)^3
    oeis: A000578
  prism:
    formula: (k+1)^2(k+2)/2
    oeis: A002411
  pyramid:
    formula: (k+1)(k+2)(2k+3)/6
    oeis: A000330
entity-ndofs:
  vertices:
    formula: 1
    oeis: A000012
  edges:
    formula: k-1
    oeis: A000027
  faces:
    triangle:
      formula: (k-1)(k-2)/2
      oeis: A000217
    quadrilateral:
      formula: (k-1)^2
      oeis: A000290
  volumes:
    tetrahedron:
      formula: (k-1)(k-2)(k-3)/6
      oeis: A000292
    hexahedron:
      formula: (k-1)^3
      oeis: A000578
    prism:
      formula: (k-1)^2k/2
      oeis: A002411
    pyramid:
      formula: k(k+1)(2k+1)/6
      oeis: A000330
min-order: 1
categories:
  - scalar
reference elements:
  - interval
  - triangle
  - tetrahedron
  - quadrilateral
  - hexahedron
  - prism
  - pyramid
dofs:
  vertices: point evaluations
  edges: point evaluations
  faces: point evaluations
  volumes: point evaluations
polynomial set:
  interval: poly[k]
  triangle: poly[k]
  tetrahedron: poly[k]
  quadrilateral: qoly[k]
  hexahedron: qoly[k]
  prism: [\operatorname{span}\left\{x_1^{p_1}x_2^{p_2}x_3^{p_3}\middle|\max(p_1+p_2,p_3)\leqslant k\right\}]
  pyramid: [\operatorname{span}\left\{x_1^{p_1}x_2^{p_2}x_3^{p_3}\middle|p_3\leqslant k-1,p_1+p_3\leqslant k,p_2+p_3\leqslant k\right\}] && [\operatorname{span}\left\{x_3^k\right\}]
symfem:
  interval: Lagrange
  triangle: Lagrange
  tetrahedron: Lagrange
  quadrilateral: Q
  hexahedron: Q
  prism: Lagrange
  pyramid: Lagrange
basix: Lagrange
ufl:
  interval: Lagrange
  triangle: Lagrange
  tetrahedron: Lagrange
  quadrilateral: Q
  hexahedron: Q
bempp:
  triangle: P orders=1
examples:
  - interval,1
  - interval,2
  - interval,3
  - triangle,1
  - triangle,2
  - triangle,3
  - quadrilateral,1
  - quadrilateral,2
  - quadrilateral,3
  - tetrahedron,1
  - tetrahedron,2
  - hexahedron,1
  - hexahedron,2
  - prism,1
  - prism,2
  - pyramid,1
  - pyramid,2

The entries in this yaml file are:

Name	Required	Description
name	Yes	The name of the element (ascii).
html-name	Yes	The name of the element, including HTML special characters.
alt-names		Alternative (HTML) names of the element.
short-names		Abbreviated names of the element.
exterior-calculus		The family name and exerior derivatuve order.
ndofs		The number of DOFs the element has and the A-numbers of the OEIS sequence(s) giving the number of DOFs.
entity-ndofs		The number of DOFs the element has per subentity type and the A-numbers of the OEIS sequence(s) giving the number of DOFs.
categories		Categories the element belongs to. Categories are defined in the file /data/categories.
reference elements	Yes	The reference element(s) that this finite element can be defined on.
dofs		Description of the DOFs of this element.
polynomial set		The polynomial set of this element. This can use sets defined in the file /data/polysets. Other sets can be given by writing [LaTeX definition of set]. Unions of multiple sets can be given, separated by && .
examples		Reference elements and orders to be included in the examples section of the entry.
symfem		The string used to define this element in Symfem's create_element function.
basix		The string used to define this element in Basix's create_element function.
ufl		The string used to define this element in UFL.
bempp		The string used to define this element in Bempp.
notes		Notes about the element.