David P. Hewett

David P. Hewett, Stephen Langdon, Simon N. Chandler-Wilde

We propose and analyse a hybrid numerical-asymptotic $hp$ boundary element method for time-harmonic scattering of an incident plane wave by an arbitrary collinear array of sound-soft two-dimensional screens. Our method uses an approximation space enriched with oscillatory basis functions, chosen to capture the high frequency asymptotics of the solution. We provide a rigorous frequency-explicit error analysis which proves that the method converges exponentially as the number of degrees of freedom $N$ increases, and that to achieve any desired accuracy it is sufficient to increase $N$ in proportion to the square of the logarithm of the frequency as the frequency increases (standard boundary element methods require $N$ to increase at least linearly with frequency to retain accuracy). Our numerical results suggest that fixed accuracy can in fact be achieved at arbitrarily high frequencies with a frequency-independent computational cost, when the oscillatory integrals required for implementation are computed using Filon quadrature. We also show how our method can be applied to the complementary "breakwater" problem of propagation through an aperture in an infinite sound-hard screen.

Antigoni Kleanthous, Timo Betcke, David P. Hewett et al.

We consider the simulation of electromagnetic scattering by single and multiple isotropic homogeneous dielectric particles using boundary integral equations. Galerkin discretizations of the classical Poggio-Miller-Chang-Harrington-Wu-Tsai (PMCHWT) boundary integral equation formulation provide accurate solutions for complex particle geometries, but are well-known to lead to ill-conditioned linear systems. In this paper we carry out an experimental investigation into the performance of Calderón preconditioning techniques for single and multiple absorbing obstacles, which involve a squaring of the PMCHWT operator to produce a well-conditioned second-kind formulation. For single-particle scattering configurations we find that Calderón preconditioning is actually often outperformed by simple "mass-matrix" preconditioning, i.e. working with the strong form of the discretized PMCHWT operator. In the case of scattering by multiple particles we find that a significant saving in computational cost can be obtained by performing block-diagonal Calderón preconditioning in which only the self-interaction blocks are preconditioned. Using the boundary element software library Bempp (www.bempp.com) the numerical performance of the different methods is compared for a range of wavenumbers, particle geometries and complex refractive indices relevant to the scattering of light by atmospheric ice crystals.

Samuel P. Groth, David P. Hewett, Stephen Langdon

We present a novel hybrid numerical-asymptotic boundary element method for high frequency acoustic and electromagnetic scattering by penetrable (dielectric) convex polygons. Our method is based on a standard reformulation of the associated transmission boundary value problem as a direct boundary integral equation for the unknown Cauchy data, but with a nonstandard numerical discretization which efficiently captures the high frequency oscillatory behaviour. The Cauchy data is represented as a sum of the classical geometrical optics approximation, computed by a beam tracing algorithm, plus a contribution due to diffraction, computed by a Galerkin boundary element method using oscillatory basis functions chosen according to the principles of the Geometrical Theory of Diffraction. We demonstrate with a range of numerical experiments that our boundary element method can achieve a fixed accuracy of approximation using only a relatively small, frequency-independent number of degrees of freedom. Moreover, for the scattering scenarios we consider, the inclusion of the diffraction term provides an order of magnitude improvement in accuracy over the geometrical optics approximation alone.

Bérangère Delourme, David P. Hewett

In this note we consider the scattering of electromagnetic waves (governed by the time-harmonic Maxwell equations) by a thin periodic layer of perfectly conducting obstacles. The size of the obstacles and the distance between neighbouring obstacles are of the same small order of magnitude $δ$, $δ$ being small. By deriving homogenized interface conditions for three model configurations, namely (i) discrete obstacles, (ii) parallel wires, (iii) a wire mesh, we show that the limiting behaviour as $δ\to0$ depends strongly on the topology of the periodic layer, with full shielding (the so-called "Faraday cage effect") occurring only in the case of a wire mesh.

David P. Hewett

The hybrid numerical-asymptotic (HNA) approach aims to reduce the computational cost of conventional numerical methods for high frequency wave scattering problems by enriching the numerical approximation space with oscillatory basis functions, chosen based on partial knowledge of the high frequency solution asymptotics. In this paper we propose a new methodology for the treatment of shadow boundary effects in HNA boundary element methods, using the classical geometrical theory of diffraction phase functions combined with mesh refinement. We develop our methodology in the context of scattering by a class of sound-soft nonconvex polygons, presenting a rigorous numerical analysis (supported by numerical results) which proves the effectiveness of our HNA approximation space at high frequencies. Our analysis is based on a study of certain approximation properties of the Fresnel integral and related functions, which govern the shadow boundary behaviour.

Simon N. Chandler-Wilde, David P. Hewett

We consider time-harmonic acoustic scattering by planar sound-soft (Dirichlet) and sound-hard (Neumann) screens. In contrast to previous studies, in which the domain occupied by the screen is assumed to be Lipschitz or smoother, we consider screens occupying an arbitrary bounded open set in the plane. Thus our study includes cases where the closure of the domain occupied by the screen has larger planar Lebesgue measure than the screen, as can happen, for example, when the screen has a fractal boundary. We show how to formulate well-posed boundary value problems for such scattering problems, our arguments depending on results on the coercivity of the acoustic single-layer and hypersingular boundary integral operators, and on properties of Sobolev spaces on general open sets which appear to be new. Our analysis teases out the explicit wavenumber dependence of the continuity and coercivity constants of the boundary integral operators, viewed as mappings between fractional Sobolev spaces, this in part extending previous results of Ha-Duong. We also consider the complementary problem of propagation through a bounded aperture in an infinite planar screen.