English

Finite element solution of a radiation/propagation problem for a Helmholtz equation with a compactly supported nonlinearity

Numerical Analysis 2026-04-16 v2 Numerical Analysis

Abstract

A finite element approach for approximating the solution of a mathematical model for the response of a penetrable, bounded object (obstacle) to the excitation by an external electromagnetic field is presented and investigated. The model consists of a nonlinear Helmholtz equation that is reduced to a spherical domain. As a specific example, we consider a finite element method consisting of Courant-type elements with curved edges at the boundary of a circular computational domain in the two-dimensional case. We examine this method and more general conforming methods -- including three-dimensional ones -- with comparable properties for their well-posedness; in particular, the validity of a discrete inf-sup condition of the modified sesquilinear form uniformly with respect to both the truncation and the mesh parameters is shown. Under suitable assumptions to the nonlinearities, a quasi-optimal error estimate is obtained. Finally, the satisfiability of the approximation property of the finite element space required for the solvability of a class of adjoint linear problems is discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2307.09103,
  title  = {Finite element solution of a radiation/propagation problem for a Helmholtz equation with a compactly supported nonlinearity},
  author = {Lutz Angermann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.09103},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T11:33:21.885Z