| Abstract: | Finite element and finite difference methods for approximating the Maxwell system propagate numerical waves with slightly incorrect velocities, and this results in phase error in the computed solution. Indeed this error limits the type of problem that can be solved, because phase error accumulates during the computation and eventually destroys the solution. Here we propose a family of mass-lumped finite element schemes using edge elements. We emphasize in particular linear elements that are equivalent to the standard Yee FDTD scheme, and cubic elements that have superior phase accuracy. We prove theorems that allow us to perform a dispersion analysis of the two common families of edge elements on rectilinear grids. A result of this analysis is to provide some justification for the choice of the particular family we use. We also provide a limited selection of numerical results that show the efficiency of our scheme. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 14: 63–88, 1998 |
