Report 2004-13

Electromagnetic scattering using a plane wave H(curl) conforming Finite Element Method

P.D. Ledger

Abstract: This paper describes a two dimensional edge element discretisation of Maxwell's equations in which the standard lowest order basis functions for the H(curl) space are augmented by plane wave expansions. The aim is to improve the accuracy of the underlying low order scheme for electromagnetic scattering problems. A method to determine the directions of the plane waves on edges inside the mesh is proposed in which the condition number of the global matrix is controlled. Improvements in the calculation of the scattering width distribution lead to substantial improvements in accuracy. A range of two--dimensional scattering examples are included and comparisons with a hp--version code are undertaken.

Paper: Available as PDF (518 KB) or as hardcopy to order (free of charge) reports@sam.math.ethz.ch.