Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 August 2005
Finite element approximation for degenerate parabolic equations is considered. We propose a semidiscrete scheme provided with order-preserving and L 1 contraction properties, making use of piecewise linear trial functions and the lumping mass technique. Those properties allow us to apply nonlinear semigroup theory, and the wellposedness and stability in L 1 and L ∞, respectively, of the scheme are established. Under certain hypotheses on the data, we also derive L 1 convergence without any convergence rate.The validity of theoretical results is confirmed by numerical examples.