Can coercive formulations lead to fast and accurate solution of the Helmholtz equation?

A new, coercive formulation of the Helmholtz equation was introduced in [Moiola, Spence, SIAM Rev. 2014]. In this paper we investigate $h$-version Galerkin discretisations of this formulation, and the iterative solution of the resulting linear systems. We find that the coercive formulation behaves similarly to the standard formulation in terms of the pollution effect (i.e. to maintain accuracy as $k\to\infty$, $h$ must decrease with $k$ at the same rate as for the standard formulation). We prove $k$-explicit bounds on the number of GMRES iterations required to solve the linear system of the new formulation when it is preconditioned with a prescribed symmetric positive-definite matrix. Even though the number of iterations grows with $k$, these are the first such rigorous bounds on the number of GMRES iterations for a preconditioned formulation of the Helmholtz equation, where the preconditioner is a symmetric positive-definite matrix.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

Numerical Quadrature for Singular Integrals on Fractals

We present and analyse numerical quadrature rules for evaluating regular and singular integrals on self-similar fractal sets. The integration domain Γ⊂R^{n} is assumed to be the compact attractor of an iterated function system of contracting similarities satisfying the open set condition. Integration is with respect to any “invariant” (also known as “balanced” or “self-similar”) measure supported on Γ, including in particular the Hausdorff measure H^{d} restricted to Γ, where d is the Hausdorff dimension of Γ. Both single and double integrals are considered. Our focus is on composite quadrature rules in which integrals over Γ are decomposed into sums of integrals over suitable partitions of Γ into self-similar subsets. For certain singular integrands of logarithmic or algebraic type, we show how in the context of such a partitioning the invariance property of the measure can be exploited to express the singular integral exactly in terms of regular integrals. For the evaluation of these regular integrals, we adopt a composite barycentre rule, which for sufficiently regular integrands exhibits second-order convergence with respect to the maximum diameter of the subsets. As an application we show how this approach, combined with a singularity-subtraction technique, can be used to accurately evaluate the singular double integrals that arise in Hausdorff-measure Galerkin boundary element methods for acoustic wave scattering by fractal screens

Vekua theory for the Helmholtz operator

Vekua operators map harmonic functions defined on domain in $${\mathbb R^{2}}$$ to solutions of elliptic partial differential equations on the same domain and vice versa. In this paper, following the original work of I. Vekua (Ilja Vekua (1907-1977), Soviet-Georgian mathematician), we define Vekua operators in the case of the Helmholtz equation in a completely explicit fashion, in any space dimension N≥2. We prove (i) that they actually transform harmonic functions and Helmholtz solutions into each other; (ii) that they are inverse to each other; and (iii) that they are continuous in any Sobolev norm in star-shaped Lipschitz domains. Finally, we define and compute the generalized harmonic polynomials as the Vekua transforms of harmonic polynomials. These results are instrumental in proving approximation estimates for solutions of the Helmholtz equation in spaces of circular, spherical, and plane wave

On the maximal Sobolev regularity\ud of distributions supported by subsets of Euclidean space

Given a subset $E$ of $\R^n$ with empty interior and an integrability parameter $1<p<\infty$, what is the maximal regularity $s\in\R$ for which there exists a non-zero distribution in the Bessel potential Sobolev space H^{s,p (\R^n) that is supported in $E$? For sets of zero Lebesgue measure we show, using results on certain set capacities from classical potential theory, that the maximal regularity is non-positive, and is characterised by the Hausdorff dimension of $E$, improving known results. We classify all possible maximal regularities, as functions of $p$, together with the sets of values of $p$ for which the maximal regularity is attained, and construct concrete examples for each case.\ud \ud For sets with positive measure the maximal regularity is non-negative, but appears more difficult to characterise in terms of geometrical properties of $E$. We present some partial results relating to the latter case, namely lower bounds on the maximal Sobolev regularity supported by certain fat Cantor sets, which we obtain both by capacity-theoretic arguments, and by direct estimation of the Sobolev norms of characteristic functions. We collect several results characterising the regularity that can be achieved on certain special classes of sets, such as $d$-sets, boundaries of open sets, and Cartesian products, of relevance for applications in differential and integral equations

Plane wave approximation of homogeneous Helmholtz solutions

In this paper, we study the approximation of solutions of the homogeneous Helmholtz equation Δu+ω 2 u=0 by linear combinations of plane waves with different directions. We combine approximation estimates for homogeneous Helmholtz solutions by generalized harmonic polynomials, obtained from Vekua's theory, with estimates for the approximation of generalized harmonic polynomials by plane waves. The latter is the focus of this paper. We establish best approximation error estimates in Sobolev norms, which are explicit in terms of the degree of the generalized polynomial to be approximated, the domain size, and the number of plane waves used in the approximation

Spurious Quasi-Resonances in Boundary Integral Equations for the Helmholtz Transmission Problem

We consider the Helmholtz transmission problem with piecewise-constant material coefficients, and the standard associated direct boundary integral equations. For certain coefficients and geometries, the norms of the inverses of the boundary integral operators grow rapidly through an increasing sequence of frequencies, even though this is not the case for the solution operator of the transmission problem; we call this phenomenon that of spurious quasi-resonances. We give a rigorous explanation of why and when spurious quasi-resonances occur, and propose modified boundary integral equations that are not affected by them

Analysis of the internal electric fields of pristine ice crystals and aggregate snowflakes, and their effect on scattering

The discrete dipole approximation is used to explore the internal electric fields of plane-wave-illuminated ice particles, and analyse their differential scattering cross sections. The results are displayed for monocrystals and aggregates of size parameters x=2 and x=10. We show that the field is relatively uniform for x=2, but for monocrystals of x=10 there is a complex internal structure. For a hexagonal plate, this structure is a combination of two components: a "distorted" plane wave, with wavefronts aligned perpendicular to the incident wave close to the centre of the plate, and curved forward near the particle boundary; and a standing wave, internally reflected around the perimeter. The former is due to the transverse component of the field i.e., the component perpendicular to the incident wave, and the latter is due to the component parallel to the incident direction. Focussing of the field towards the forward side of the particle is observed. As the particle complexity is increased due to aggregation, the field becomes smoother and less focussing is seen. For complex aggregates, the individual monomers act independently of one another, suggesting simplified methods of calculating scattering from such particles. The influence of the internal fields on far-field scattering is explored. It is demonstrated that scattering in the forward and backward directions is dominated by the transverse component. The parallel component contributes to sidescattering, with its influence on total scattering decreasing with particle complexity. We propose that this is due to the inability of complex particles to maintain a standing wave, diminishing much of the sidescattering observed for monocrystals. Comparisons of the far-field scattering properties of complex aggregates using the discrete dipole and Rayleigh-Gans approximations are also presented for x=2 and x=10, along with results obtained using a soft sphere approximation

Interpolation of Hilbert and Sobolev Spaces:\ud Quantitative Estimates and Counterexamples

This paper provides an overview of interpolation of Banach and Hilbert spaces, with a focus on establishing when equivalence of norms is in fact equality of norms in the key results of the theory. (In brief, our conclusion for the Hilbert space case is that, with the right normalisations, all the key results hold with equality of norms.) In the final section we apply the Hilbert space results to the Sobolev spaces $H^s(\Omega)$ and $\tilde{H}^s(\Omega)$, for $s\in \mathbb{R}$ and an open $\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^n$. We exhibit examples in one and two dimensions of sets $\Omega$ for which these scales of Sobolev spaces are not interpolation scales. In the cases when they are interpolation scales (in particular, if $\Omega$ is Lipschitz) we exhibit examples that show that, in general, the interpolation norm does not coincide with the intrinsic Sobolev norm and, in fact, the ratio of these two norms can be arbitrarily large

Explicit bounds for the high-frequency time-harmonic Maxwell equations in heterogeneous media

We consider the time-harmonic Maxwell equations posed in $\mathbb{R}^3$. We prove a priori bounds on the solution for $L^\infty$ coefficients $\epsilon$ and $\mu$ satisfying certain monotonicity properties, with these bounds valid for arbitrarily-large frequency, and explicit in the frequency and properties of $\epsilon$ and $\mu$. The class of coefficients covered includes (i) certain $\epsilon$ and $\mu$ for which well-posedness of the time-harmonic Maxwell equations had not previously been proved, and (ii) scattering by a penetrable $C^0$ star-shaped obstacle where $\epsilon$ and $\mu$ are smaller inside the obstacle than outside. In this latter setting, the bounds are uniform across all such obstacles, and the first sharp frequency-explicit bounds for this problem at high-frequency