Nearly isotropic propagation of spatially discretized waves

The effect of spatial discretization on the isotropy of propagating waves is investigated. A general criterion is given for minimizing the numerical anisotropy and dispersion caused by spatial discretization, and specific discretizations in two and three space dimensions are derived which give, in a well-defined sense, optimally isotropic propagation. We establish the group-theoretic connection between the properties of the spatial discretization and the symmetries of the underlying computational grid. The discretization technique, described here in the context of the scalar wave equation, may also be applied to other partial differential equations containing the Laplacian or gradient operators.