Two Frameworks and their Fourth Order Implicit Schemes for Time Discretization of Maxwell's Equations

TL;DR

This paper introduces two energy-conserving, fourth-order time discretization schemes for Maxwell's equations, utilizing compatible finite element spaces and Taylor expansion strategies, with proven stability and convergence.

Contribution

It develops and analyzes two novel fourth-order time discretization frameworks for Maxwell's equations, applicable to linear PDE systems, ensuring energy conservation and convergence.

Findings

Schemes are stable and convergent.

Numerical examples validate the methods.

Applicable to general linear PDE systems.

Abstract

Our work is about energy conserving fourth-order time discretizations of a three-field formulation of Maxwell's equations in conjunction with a spatial discretization using higher-order and compatible de Rham finite element spaces. Toward this end, we delineate two broad classes of strategies for general higher-order time discretizations which we term spatial and temporal strategies. We provide a description of these two strategies and develop fourth-order time accurate schemes in the context of our Maxwell's system. However, our description can be used to prescribe similar fourth- or even higher-order time-integration methods for any linear (or quasi-linear) system of time-dependent partial differential equations. Our organizing principle in our proposed two strategies is to Taylor expand the unknown solution in time by assuming sufficient regularity. Then, in the spatial strategy, we use Maxwell's equations themselves to replace the fourth-order time derivatives in an appropriately truncated Taylor expansion with corresponding higher-order spatial derivatives. On the other hand, in the temporal strategy, we simply use higher-order finite difference schemes for the various higher-order time derivative terms in the truncated Taylor approximation. In both cases, we then defer to a standard finite element exterior calculus manner of compatible discretization for the spatial component of the Maxwell's solution. For our proposed schemes corresponding to the two strategies, we show that they are both stable and convergent and provide some validating numerical examples in $\mathbb{R}^2$. Our main contributions are in the development of the fourth-order time discretization methods that are energy conserving using our two outlined strategies and proofs of their convergence for semi- and full-discretizations of our three-field system of Maxwell's equations.