An iterative domain decomposition, spectral finite element method on non-conforming meshes suitable for high frequency Helmholtz problems

TL;DR

This paper introduces an efficient iterative domain decomposition spectral finite element method for high frequency Helmholtz problems, enabling local refinement and non-conforming meshes with improved convergence properties.

Contribution

It develops a hierarchical constraint enforcement approach with a dispersion-based coarse space selection, reducing iteration count dependence on wavenumber.

Findings

Number of iterations depends weakly on wavenumber

Method effectively handles non-conforming meshes with hanging nodes

Successful application to electromagnetic scattering problems

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to describe an efficient iterative method suitable for obtaining high accuracy solutions to high frequency time-harmonic scattering problems. The method allows for both refinement of local polynomial degree and non-conforming mesh refinement, including multiple hanging nodes per edge. Rather than globally assemble the finite element system, we describe an iterative domain decomposition method which can use element-wise fast solvers for elements of large degree. Since continuity between elements is enforced through moment equations, the resulting constraint equations are hierarchical. We show that, for high frequency problems, a subset of these constraints should be directly enforced, providing the coarse space in the dual-primal domain decomposition method. The subset of constraints is chosen based on a dispersion criterion involving mesh size and wavenumber. By increasing the size of the coarse space according to this criterion, the number of iterations in the domain decomposition method depends only weakly on the wavenumber. We demonstrate this convergence behaviour on standard domain decomposition test problems and conclude the paper with application of the method to electromagnetic problems in two dimensions. These examples include beam steering by lenses and photonic crystal waveguides, as well as radar cross section computation for dielectric, perfect electric conductor, and electromagnetic cloak scatterers.