Finite Difference

Solve

Let

where
Note that due to the boundary condition.

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 0.3
exact
finite difference
0.25

0.2
f(x)

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x

Example: 2-D Laplace's Eqation

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
1.5

0.8 1
0.6
0.4 0.5
0.2

HW#5: Solve . Let .

Plot the result with the exact solution .

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Finite Difference Time Domain Method
From Maxwells Equations

By equation each component in Cartesian coordinate, we have

Finite Differences and Yee Algorithm

Approximate the derivative by finite difference, for example,

, for small

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Then, at ,

The significance of the above equation is: if is known at

space coordinate , and

are known at time , then .

Similarly, electric fields can be computed from magnetic fields as the

above. Let the electric field be defined at half-grid points and integer
time steps, i.e. . Let the magnetic field be
defined at half time steps and integer grid points, i.e., .
The electric fields and magnetic fields can be computed one after
another after an initial condition is specified. The above scheme is
called Yees leapfrog algorithm.

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Cell Size, Numerical Stability

Cell size: usually less than , however, finer cell size may be needed
depending on the structure.
Time step:

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Absorbing Boundary Conditions (ABC)
For open space problem like antenna radiation or scattering, it is
necessary simulate the open space by a truncated grid. Absorbing
boundary conditions are necessary on the boundary of the grids.

Mur ABC: calculate the fields at the boundary by previous time step and
neighbouring grids under the assumption of plan wave propagation.

Perfect Matching Layer (PML): artificial material placed on the

boundary to minimize the reflection from the boundary.

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Usually, the space between the
antenna or scatter and the boundary is
15 to 20 cells for Mur ABC and 4 or
5 for PML.

Source Condition

Single frequency:
Wideband Gaussian pulse:

Modulated Gaussian pulse:

Hard source: the total field at the source

coordinate is forced to be the source
function. May cause undesired effect.

Soft source: the total field at the

source coordinate is the superposition
of the source function and the updated field.

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Example: Horn Antenna
Carry Pulse excitation:

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Example: monopole. Gaussian Pulse Excitation.

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Summary:

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