Energy Conserving Finite Elements for the Maxwell System

This paper discusses computation of time-harmonic wave problems using a mixed formulation and the controllability method introduced by Roland Glowinski. As an example, a scattering problem (in an exterior domain) is considered, and the continuous problem is first formulated in terms of differential forms. Based on the continuous formulation, we write the discrete problem and the controllability algorithm for methods based on both the finite element exterior calculus (FEEC) and the discrete exterior calculus (DEC). As the discrete exterior calculus method provides us with a diagonal “mass matrix”, time-stepping in the DEC approach is remarkably more efficient than in the FEEC approach. For the computations in this paper, we choose the lowest order Whitney elements (a.k.a. Raviart–Thomas elements) for the FEEC approach, and in the DEC discretization we use different diagonal approximations for the Hodge star. Especially, in the DEC approach, a “harmonic Hodge” approximation is used, the derivation of which is based on the time-harmonicity of the problem. Different type of grids are used to study the sensitivity of the solution to the quality of the grid. Putting an effort on meshes regular enough, the computed DEC-solution is as accurate as the FEEC-solution, but reached in the fraction of the time. Both methods seem to be able to keep the solution accuracy rather well in computations with a high wave number (corresponding to a high frequency and a small wave length).

Several space-time grids with 2D-space are examined for electromagnetic field computation using finite integration (FI) method, where time-step is locally refined. Two-types of space-time grids are proposed to decrease the unphysical reflection of electromagnetic wave. A preliminary stability analysis is also carried out for stable explicit time-marching.

Computational modeling is a key resource to gather insight into physical systems in modern scientific research and engineering. While access to large amount of data has fueled the use of machine learning to recover physical models from experiments and increase the accuracy of physical simulations, purely data-driven models have limited generalization and interpretability. To overcome these limitations, we propose a framework that combines symbolic regression (SR) and discrete exterior calculus (DEC) for the automated discovery of physical models starting from experimental data. Since these models consist of mathematical expressions, they are interpretable and amenable to analysis, and the use of a natural, general-purpose discrete mathematical language for physics favors generalization with limited input data. Importantly, DEC provides building blocks for the discrete analog of field theories, which are beyond the state-of-the-art applications of SR to physical problems. Further, we show that DEC allows to implement a strongly-typed SR procedure that guarantees the mathematical consistency of the recovered models and reduces the search space of symbolic expressions. Finally, we prove the effectiveness of our methodology by re-discovering three models of continuum physics from synthetic experimental data: Poisson equation, the Euler’s elastica and the equations of linear elasticity. Thanks to their general-purpose nature, the methods developed in this paper may be applied to diverse contexts of physical modeling.

We study the optimization of an energy function used by the meshing community to measure and improve mesh quality. This energy is non-traditional because it is dependent on both the primal triangulation and its dual Voronoi (power) diagram. The energy is a measure of the mesh's quality for usage in Discrete Exterior Calculus (DEC), a method for numerically solving PDEs. In DEC, the PDE domain is triangulated and this mesh is used to obtain discrete approximations of the continuous operators in the PDE. The energy of a mesh gives an upper bound on the error of the discrete diagonal approximation of the Hodge star operator. In practice, one begins with an initial mesh and then makes adjustments to produce a mesh of lower energy. However, we have discovered several shortcomings in directly optimizing this energy, e.g. its non-convexity, and we show that the search for an optimized mesh may lead to mesh inversion (malformed triangles). We propose a new energy function to address some of these issues.

Finite element time-domain body-of-revolution Maxwell solver based on discrete exterior calculus

A new hybrid time domain method is presented which combines three well-known numerical techniques, i.e. the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, finite element (FE) method and method of moments (MoM). The hybrid scheme has been designed to handle complex geometries comprising arbitrary thin-wire structures and inhomogeneous dielectric regions the shape of which can also be arbitrary. Numerical results are presented which illustrate the accuracy of the method.

Tangent vector fields are an essential ingredient in controlling surface appearance for applications ranging from anisotropic shading to texture synthesis and non-photorealistic rendering. To achieve a desired effect one is typically interested in smoothly varying fields that satisfy a sparse set of user-provided constraints. Using tools from Discrete Exterior Calculus, we present a simple and efficient algorithm for designing such fields over arbitrary triangle meshes. By representing the field as scalars over mesh edges (i.e., discrete 1-forms), we obtain an intrinsic, coordinate-free formulation in which field smoothness is enforced through discrete Laplace operators. Unlike previous methods, such a formulation leads to a linear system whose sparsity permits efficient pre-factorization. Constraints are incorporated through weighted least squares and can be updated rapidly enough to enable interactive design, as we demonstrate in the context of anisotropic texture synthesis.

Light scattering by particles large compared to the wavelength of incident light is traditionally solved using ray optics which considers absorption inside the particle approximately, along the ray paths. To study the effects rising from this simplification, we have updated the ray-optics code SIRIS to take into account the propagation of light as inhomogeneous plane waves inside an absorbing particle. We investigate the impact of this correction on traditional ray-optics computations in the example case of light scattering by ice crystals through the extended near-infrared (NIR) wavelength regime. In this spectral range, ice changes from nearly transparent to opaque, and therefore provides an interesting test case with direct connection and applicability to atmospheric remote-sensing measurements at NIR wavelengths. We find that the correction for inhomogeneous waves systematically increases the single-scattering albedo throughout the NIR spectrum for both randomly-oriented, column-like hexagonal crystals and ice crystals shaped like Gaussian random spheres. The largest increase in the single-scattering albedo is 0.042 for hexagonal crystals and 0.044 for Gaussian random spheres, both at λ=2.725 µm. Although the effects on the 4 × 4 scattering-matrix elements are generally small, the largest differences are seen at 2.0 µm and 3.969 µm wavelengths where the correction for inhomogeneous waves affects mostly the backscattering hemisphere of the depolarization-connected P22/P11, P33/P11, and P44/P11. We evaluated the correction for inhomogeneous waves through comparisons against the discrete exterior calculus (DEC) method. We computed scattering by hexagonal ice crystals using the DEC, a traditional ray-optics code (SIRIS3), and a ray-optics code with inhomogeneous waves (SIRIS4). Comparisons of the scattering-matrix elements from SIRIS3 and SIRIS4 against those from the DEC suggest that consideration of the inhomogeneous waves brings the ray-optics solution generally closer to the exact result and, therefore, should be taken into account in scattering by absorbing particles large compared to the wavelength of incident light.

A combined Finite Element-Boundary Element approach for elasto-plastic analysis of solids which conform to plane stress or plane strain conditions is presented. Here, a given problem domain is discretised by Finite Element and Boundary Element regions. It is assumed that the response of the Boundary Element regions remains elastic throughout the analysis whilst the elasto-plastic response is captured by the Finite Element regions. Coupling of the two systems of equations is achieved by treating the boundary regions as Finite Element substructures.

The objective of this article is investigation of dynamic response of thick multilayer functionally graded (FG) beam under generalized dynamic forces. The plane stress problem is exploited to describe the constitutive equation of thick FG beam to get realistic and accurate response. Applied dynamic forces are assumed to be sinusoidal harmonic, sinusoidal pulse or triangle in time domain and point load. Equations of motion of deep FG beam are derived based on the Hamilton principle from kinematic relations and constitutive equations of plane stress problem. The numerical finite element procedure is adopted to discretize the space domain of structure and transform partial differential equations of motion to ordinary differential equations in time domain. Numerical time integration method is used to solve the system of equations in time domain and find the time responses. Numerical parametric studies are performed to illustrate effects of force type, graduation parameter, geometrical and stacking sequence of layers on the time response of deep multilayer FG beams.

The finite difference time domain method and finite element methods have proven to be highly effective techniques for the full wave analysis of microwave circuits and resonators. The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is highly efficient, explicit and parallelizable. Finite element methods have been used in the frequency domain and in the time domain using implicit methods. Implicit methods require a solution of a linear system of equations at each time step. For the finite element time domain (FETD) algorithm to be competitive with the FDTD, the number of time iterations required for a simulation must be significantly less. An unconditionally stable FETD algorithm is used. The variational formulation is based on the vector wave equation. Unconditional stability is achieved by using a modified Newmark-Beta time integration technique. In addition, this algorithm is implemented on parallel message passing computers using a finite element tearing and interconnecting scheme. Some numerical examples based on cavity resonator problems are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method and the parallel efficiency of the algorithm.

In this paper, a general comparison is presented between time-domain and frequency-domain simulation schemes of phased arrays. A series of Vivaldi arrays are simulated with finite integral time-domain (FITD) and frequency-domain finite element method (FEM) in terms of its far field characteristic like radiation pattern and gain. Three finite arrays of 10 by 10, 20 by 20, and 30 by 30 are simulated using FITD. The results are compared with that of the same arrays by linear combination of a unit Vivaldi antenna simulated with FEM. It is concluded that for small arrays time domain is more accurate while for large ones frequency domain method is more superior in terms of computer time and memory.

The physical models and numerical methodologies of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are historically linked to the concept of continuous medium and to analysis where continuity, derivation and integration are defined as limits at a point. The first consequence is the need to extend these notions in a multidimensional space by establishing a global inertial frame of reference in order to project the variables there. In recent decades, the emergence of methodologies based on differential geometry or exterior calculus has changed the point of view by starting with the creation of entangled polygonal and polyhedral structures where the variables are located. Mimetic methods and Discrete Exterior Calculus, notably, have intrinsic conservation properties which make them very efficient for solving fluid dynamics equations. The natural extension of this discrete vision relates to the derivation of the equations of mechanics by abandoning the notion of continuous medium. The Galilean frame of reference is replaced by a local frame of reference composed of an oriented segment where the acceleration of the material medium or of a particle is defined. The extension to a higher dimensional space is carried from cause to effect, from one local structure to another. The conservation of acceleration over a segment and the Helmholtz–Hodge decomposition are two essential principles adopted for the derivation of a discrete law of motion. As the fields covered by CFD are increasingly broad, it is natural to return to the deeper meaning of physical phenomena to try a new research or new path which would preserve the properties of current formulations.

A numerical scheme, which hybridizes the element level dual field time domain finite element domain decomposition method (ELDFDD/TDFEM) and time domain boundary integral (TDBI) method to accurately and efficiently analyze open-region transient electromagnetic scattering problems, is proposed. The element level decomposition permits an efficient leapfrog-like explicit marching scheme to be used to integrate Maxwell equations in time. The hybridization with TDBI method ensures that an accurate solution can be obtained in the smallest computation domain possible. The accuracy and applicability of the proposed hybrid method is demonstrated by numerical experiments.

This paper introduces a new algorithm for the automatic synthesis of SPICE-ready equivalent circuits of complex multiport lumped interconnect structures. The method is named time-domain vector fitting (TD-VF) due to its analogy to the well-known vector fitting algorithm, which operates in the frequency domain. The TD-VF computes a rational approximation of the transfer matrix for the structure under modeling using as raw data its transient port responses to suitable excitations. These include, e.g., the case of transient port scattering responses as typically obtained by full-wave electromagnetic solvers based on the finite-differences time-domain (FDTD) or finite integration (FIT) methods. The TD-VF algorithm works entirely in the time domain, without requiring any knowledge of the frequency-domain responses. This allows direct processing of possibly truncated transient responses, therefore allowing for short full-wave simulations. This paper shows that the accuracy level achievable by TD-VF is excellent. Hence, passivity can be enforced a posteriori using the spectral properties of associated Hamiltonian matrices. Several examples of package, connectors, and discontinuities are provided as illustration.