Eigenanalysis of some preconditioned Helmholtz problems (Q1806002)

This paper is concerned with properties of the eigenvalues of matrices arising from discretization of the Helmholtz equation \[ -\Delta u- k^2u= f. \] The authors calculate the eigenvalues obtained by preconditioning the discrete Helmholtz operator with Sommerfeld-like boundary conditions on a rectilinear domain, by a related operator that permits the use of fast solvers. The main innovation is that the eigenvalues for two- and three-dimensional domains can be calculated exactly by solving a set of one-dimensional eigenvalue problems.