Finite element approximation of a fourth order nonlinear degenerate parabolic equation

We consider a fully practical nite element approximation of the fourth order nonlinear degenerate parabolic equation u t + r:(b(u)ru)= 0; where generically b(u) := juj p for any given p 2 (0; 1). An iterative scheme for solving the resulting nonlinear discrete system is analysed. In addition to showing well-posedness of our approximation, we prove convergence in one space dimension. Finally some numerical experiments are presented.