Conforming Virtual Element Method for Biharmonic Poisson-Nernst-Planck Navier-Stokes systems

We develop and analyze a conforming Virtual Element Method (VEM) for the fourth-order Poisson-Nernst-Planck-Navier-Stokes (PNP-NS) system. The proposed scheme is based on compatible discretizations of each component: an \(H^2\)-conforming VEM for a fourth-order electrostatic potential equation, an \(H^1\)-conforming VEM for the Nernst--Planck equations, and a \textit{divergence-free} and \textit{pressure-robust} VEM for the Navier--Stokes equations. Time integration is performed using a backward Euler scheme to ensure stability. We establish the well-posedness of the continuous problem up to three-dimensions and also establish existence and uniqueness of the fully discrete solution via a fixed-point argument. Further, we derive a priori error estimates showing that the electrostatic potential, concentration and velocity converge optimally in Bochner norms \(L^\infty\bigl(0,T; H^2(\Omega)\bigr)\), \(L^2\bigl(0,T; H^1(\Omega)\bigr)\), and \(L^2\bigl(0,T; \bm{H}^1(\Omega)\bigr)\), respectively. The analysis requires a sophisticated argument to avoid any restrictive assumptions on the coercivity and continuity constants and to handle the trilinear form involving three different variables. The pressure-robust design permits the use of lowest-order pressure approximations without compromising convergence rates of the other variables, reducing computational cost. Numerical experiments confirm the theoretical convergence rates for various polynomial orders and demonstrate the scheme's robustness, including in low-viscosity regimes.