In this paper, we consider conductivity inclusions inside a homogeneous background conductor. We provide a complete asymptotic expansion of the solution of such problems in terms of small variations in the electrical conductivity of the inclusion. Our method is based on a boundary integral perturbation theory. Our results are valid for both high and low contrast inclusions.

A regularized recursive linearization method is developed for a two-dimensional inverse medium scattering problem that arises in near-field optics, which reconstructs the scatterer of an inhomogeneous medium deposited on a homogeneous substrate from data accessible through photon scanning tunneling microscopy experiments. In addition to the ill-posedness of the inverse scattering problems, two difficulties arise from the layered background medium and limited aperture data. Based on multiple frequency scattering data, the method starts from the Born approximation corresponding to the weak scattering at a low frequency, each update is obtained via recursive linearization with respect to the wavenumber by solving one forward problem and one adjoint problem of the Helmholtz equation. Numerical experiments are included to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method.

We study wave splitting procedures for acoustic or electromagnetic scattering problems. The idea of these procedures is to split some scattered field into a sum of fields coming from different spatial regions such that this information can be used either for inversion algorithms or for active noise control. Splitting algorithms can be based on general boundary layer potential representation or Green's representation formula. We will prove the unique decomposition of scattered wave outside the specified reference domain $G$ and the unique decomposition of far-field pattern with respect to different reference domain $G$. Further, we employ the splitting technique for field reconstruction for a scatterer with two or more separate components, by combining it with the point source method for wave recovery. Using the decomposition of scattered wave as well as its far-field pattern, the wave splitting procedure proposed in this paper gives an efficient way to the computation of scattered wave near the obstacle, from which the multiple obstacles which cause the far-field pattern can be reconstructed separately. This considerably extends the range of the decomposition methods in the area of inverse scattering. Finally, we will provide numerical examples to demonstrate the feasibility of the splitting method.

In this paper, we give the state of the art for the so called "mixed spectral elements" for Maxwell's equations. Several families of elements, such as edge elements and discontinuous Galerkin methods (DGM) are presented and discussed. In particular, we show the need of introducing some numerical dissipation terms to avoid spurious modes in these methods. Such terms are classical for DGM but their use for edge element methods is a novel approach described in this paper. Finally, numerical experiments show the fast and low-cost character of these elements.

We review time-domain formulations of radiation boundary conditions for Maxwell's equations, focusing on methods which can deliver arbitrary accuracy at acceptable computational cost. Examples include fast evaluations of nonlocal conditions on symmetric and general boundaries, methods based on identifying and evaluating equivalent sources, and local approximations such as the perfectly matched layer and sequences of local boundary conditions. Complexity estimates are derived to assess work and storage requirements as a function of wavelength and simulation time.

For a photonic crystal (PhC) of finite size, it is important to  calculate its transmission and reflection spectra. For  two-dimensional (2-D) PhCs composed of a square lattice of circular  cylinders, the problem can be solved by an efficient method based on  the Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) map of the unit cell and a marching  scheme using a pair of operators. In this paper, the DtN operator  marching method is extended to handle 2-D PhCs with complex unit  cells and arbitrary lattice structures.

In this paper we extend the standard Ultra Weak Variational Formulation (UWVF) of Maxwell's equations in an isotropic medium to the case of an anisotropic medium. We verify that the underlying theoretical framework carries over to anisotropic media (however error estimates are not yet available) and completely describe the new scheme. We then consider TM mode scattering, show how these results in a Helmholtz equation in two dimensions with an anisotropic coefficient and demonstrate how to formulate the UWVF for it. In one special case, convergence can be proved. We then show some numerical results that suggest that the UWVF can successfully simulate wave propagation in anisotropic media.

We study the initial value problem of the Helmholtz equation with spatially variable wave number. We show that it can be stabilized by suppressing the evanescent waves. The stabilized Helmholtz equation can be solved numerically by a marching scheme combined with FFT. The resulting algorithm has complexity $n^2 \log n$ on a $n \times n$ grid. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method by numerical examples with caustics. For the Maxwell equation the same treatment is possible after reducing it to a second order system. We show how the method can be used for inverse problems arising in acoustic tomography and microwave imaging.

This paper is concerned with stable solutions of time domain integral equation (TDIE) methods for transient scattering problems with 3D conducting objects. We use the quadratic B-spline function as temporal basis functions, which permits both the induced currents and induced charges to be properly approximated in terms of completeness. Because the B-spline function has the least support width among all polynomial basis functions of the same order, the resulting system matrices seem to be the sparsest. The TDIE formulations using induced electric polarizations as unknown function are adopted and justified. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed approach is accurate and efficient, and no late-time instability is observed.