Analysis of patch-test consistent atomistic-to-continuum coupling with higher-order finite elements

We formulate a patch test consistent atomistic-to-continuum coupling (a/c) scheme that employs a second-order (potentially higher-order) finite element method in the material bulk. We prove a sharp error estimate in the energy-norm, which demonstrates that this scheme is (quasi-)optimal amongst energy-based sharp-interface a/c schemes that employ the Cauchy–Born continuum model. Our analysis also shows that employing a higher-order continuum discretisation does not yield qualitative improvements to the rate of convergence