Asymptotic error expansions in H^1-norm for the bilinear finite element approximation to a class of optimal control problems are derived for rectangular meshes. With the rectan- gular meshes, the Richardson extrapolation of two different schemes and an interpolation defect correction can be applied. The higher order numerical approximations are used to generate a posteriori error estimators for the finite element approximation.
In this paper we are concerned with the pricing of lookback options with American type constrains. Based on the differential linear complementary formula associated with the pricing problem, an implicit difference scheme is constructed and analyzed. We show that there exists a unique difference solution which is unconditionally stable. Using the notion of viscosity solutions, we also prove that the finite difference solution converges uniformly to the viscosity solution of the continuous problem. Furthermore, by means of the variational inequality analysis method, the O（△t ＋ △x^2）-order error estimate is derived in the discrete L2-norm provided that the continuous problem is sufficiently regular. In addition, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the theoretical results.
