Robust algorithms for the calculation of full-wave electromagnetic solutions (Q1346567)

The problem of evaluation of electromagnetic wave propagation in the presence of conducting structures which is usually carried out by boundary element methods is discussed. For periodic structures the computation consists mainly of evaluating the wave-vectors for which a generalized impedance matrix \(Z\) is singular and of finding the corresponding eigenmodes. The matrix \(Z\) is usually large and highly ill- conditioned, so that finding the relevant eigenvalues is a difficult task. A new numerical approach which makes it possible to overcome these difficulties is presented. The proposed algorithm is based on the specific spectral features of the impedance matrix \(Z\) and on the fact that only one or a few eigenmodes are needed. It involves a preconditioning transformation of \(Z\) into a matrix which has the same relevant spectral properties but is much better conditioned. This transformation of the problem results in three important features: (a) only one matrix factorization is needed, (b) the sensitivity to initial guess is reduced drastically, (c) several solutions can be found with a single preconditioner. A modified Arnoldi method which focuses on evaluating the few relevant eigenvalues is applied. The preconditioned Arnoldi procedures and their efficient embedding in Newton iterations for the determination of propagation constant is described. A numerical test is carried out to show that the new method is far more forgiving with respect to inaccurate guesses and is much faster. A new algorithm for reducing the run time in a certain class of electromagnetic code is both robust and considerably more efficient than existing techniques. The new technique works for every structure in the class.