Nonsmooth data error estimates for damped single step methods for parabolic equations in Banach space

We consider a time discretization method for a parabolic initial boundary value problem obtained from a combination of an A-stable single step method of order p and a lower order method with good smoothing properties. Such methods, including the Crank–Nicolson method combined with the backward Euler method, were analyzed in Hilbert space by Luskin and Rannacher, and nonsmooth data error estimates of order p were obtained. We extend this result to Banach space, and also consider approximations of the time derivative. Further, we apply the results to obtain error estimates in the supremum norm for fully discrete methods obtained by discretizing the space variable by a finite element method. Received: February 1998/ Accepted: November 1998