On a direct method for solving Helmholtz's type equations in 3-D rectangular regions (Q917241)

A direct solution method for solving elliptic partial differential equations of the type \[ k_ x(z)\cdot \partial^ 2\phi /\partial x^ 2+k_ y(z)\cdot \partial^ 2\phi /\partial y^ 2+k_ z\cdot \partial^ 2\phi /\partial z^ 2+\sigma (z)\cdot \phi =f(x,y,z) \] in three-dimensional rectangular regions, where \(k_ z\) is a constant and \(k_ x(z)\), \(k_ y(z)\), \(\sigma\) (z) are continuous functions of z, is given. For Dirichlet type boundary conditions, the spatial partial derivatives are approximated by using the Hermite approach with truncation error \(O(h^ 6)\). For Neumann type conditions, the given partial differential equation is discretized on a three-dimensional grid and the set of difference equations is formulated as a linear system of matrix equations whose solution is found by a suitable decomposition of unknowns based on the knowledge of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of certain tridiagonal matrices.