University of Twente

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Finite Element Methods for

Maxwell’s Equations
Davit Harutyunyan
joint work with M. A. Botchev and J. J. W. van der Vegt
MPCM seminar

26th February 2004

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Outline
Maxwell’s equations Finite element methods
• Time-dependent electromagnetic fields. • Functional spaces.
• Interface and Boundary conditions. • Weak formulation.
• Physical constraints. • Discretization.

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Time Dependent Maxwell’s Equations

• Coupled system of linear PDE’s
∂D E electric f ield
= ∇×H H magnetic f ield
∂t
∂B D electric f lux density
= −∇ × E B magnetic f lux density
∂t

• Divergence constraints • Constitutive relations

∇·D = 0 D = E
∇·B = 0 B = µH
• Material properties
 = (x) permittivity µ = µ(x) permeability

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Interface Conditions
The tangential component of E and H fields are continuous across two
media:

n × (E1 − E2) = 0
n × (H1 − H2) = 0

ε1 ε2 E2
E1 ε1 >ε2

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Interface Conditions
The normal component of B and D fields are continuous across two media:

n · (D1 − D2) = 0
n · (B1 − B2) = 0

ε1 D1 ε2 D2
ε2> ε1

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Boundary Conditions

Dirichlet b.c. on top and bottom edges u = 0

Transparent b.c. on left an right edges

Transparent b.c. on all edges.

Thanks: J.B. Nicolau

• Perfect conducting boundary conditions

n×E =0

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Functional spaces

H(curl, Ω) = {u ∈ L2(Ω)3| ∇ × u ∈ L2(Ω)3}

K1, K2: non-overlapping domains, Σ = K̄1 ∩ K̄2.

Let u1 ∈ H(curl, K1 ) and u2 ∈ H(curl, K2 ), define

u1 on K1,
u=
u2 on K2.
u ∈ H(curl, K1 ∪ K2 ∪ Σ) if and only if u1 × n = u2 × n on Σ.

Hence H(curl, Ω) is an appropriate space for the electric field E .

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Functional spaces . . .
H(div, Ω) = {u ∈ L2(Ω)3| ∇ · u ∈ L2(Ω)}

Let u1 ∈ H(div, K1 ) and u2 ∈ H(div, K2 ), define


u1 on K1,
u=
u2 on K2.

u ∈ H(div, K1 ∪ K2 ∪ Σ) if and only if u1 · n = u2 · n on Σ.

Hence H(div, Ω) is an appropriate space for magnetic flux density B .

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Weak Formulation
• Find E ∈ H(curl, Ω) and B ∈ H(div, Ω) such that
Z Z
∂
E · V dx = (µ−1B) · (∇ × V )dx
∂t Ω Ω

Z Z
∂
B · Zdx = − ∇ × E · Zdx
∂t Ω Ω

for every V ∈ H0 (curl, Ω) and Z ∈ H0 (div, Ω).

H0(curl, Ω) = {u ∈ H(curl, Ω) | n × u = 0 on Γ}
H0(div, Ω) = {u ∈ H(div)| n · u = 0 on Γ}

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Finite elements in H(curl, Ω): Edge elements

• The basis functions are associated from the edges,
they satisfy: 6
4

Z
(wi · tj )ds = δij
1 2
1 1

z 9 1 0

ai x
2

5
7

ti is the unit tangent vector along edge ai. 1

On the unit cube there are 12 edge basis functions.

W10


= (y − 1)(z − 1), 0, 0 W50


= 0, (x − 1)(z − 1), 0
W20


= − y(z − 1), 0, 0 W60


= 0, −x(z − 1), 0
W30


= − (y − 1)z, 0, 0 W70


= 0, −(x − 1)z, 0
W40


= yz, 0, 0 W80


= 0, xz, 0 , . . .

Note: These basis functions are locally divergence free on cubes.

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Finite elements in H(curl, Ω): Edge elements . . .

Example:
on the interface

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Finite elements in H(curl, Ω): Edge elements . . .

3 6
9

On an arbitrary element the basis z

10 1 8 4 11

functions are defined using covariant y 7 12

2
x
transformation
Β
Wj = (dB)−tWj0, 3
A1 6

4
C1

B1 8 D1
ζ 9 11

dB Jacobian of the transformation B η

10
A
5
12

C
1 2
ξ
B 7 D

These elements are conforming in H(curl, Ω).

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Finite elements in H(div, Ω): Face elements

• The basis functions are associated from the faces, they satisfy:
Z
(Fi · nj )ds = δij
fi

nj unit normal vector to the face fj .

• On the unit cube there are 6 face basis functions.

0 0



F1 = − 1 + x, 0, 0 F4 = 0, y, 0
F20 = x, 0, 0 F50 = 0, 0, −1 + z

F30 = 0, −1 + y, 0 F60 = 0, 0, z

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Finite elements in H(div, Ω): Face elements. . .

• On an arbitrary element the basis functions are defined using Piola

transformation
Fj = PK Fj0

These elements are conforming in H(div, Ω).

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Why Piola transformation?

• K̂ and K are two bounded domains in R3.
• BK : K̂ → K is continuously differentiable.
Define the Piola transformation via
1
v = PK v̂ = dBK v̂(BK−1)
det(dBK )

Let ŵ ∈ H(div, K̂), define w = PK ŵ, then w ∈ H(div, K) and

1 ˆ · ŵ
∇·w = ∇
det(dBK )
1
w·n= ŵ · n̂
|S|
S ∈ ∂K –is the area of the face.
• Divergence free functions remain div-free also in the physical domain.
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Field expansion, ODE system

• Approximate the electric field E and the magnetic flux B as
PN PNf
E = j=1 ej (t)Wj ∈ H(curl, Ω) B = j=1 bj (t)Fj ∈ H(div, Ω).
• Ordinary differential equations

∂e
C = KT b
∂t
∂b
G = −Ke
∂t
where
Z Z
Cij = Wi · Wj dx, Gij = µ−1Fi · Fj dx,
ZΩ Ω

Kij = (µ−1∇ × Wi) · Fidx

Ω
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Leap-frog Time Integration

• The magnetic field is calculated at the half time step and the electric
field is calculated at the whole time step, specifically

Gbn+1/2 = Gbn−1/2 − 4tKen

Cen+1 = Cen + 4tK T bn+1/2
• A large sparse linear system must be solved at every time step. The
matrices are s.p.d. and well conditioned. Simple iterative methods are
efficient (CG, ICCG, et al).
• The scheme is second order accurate.

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Conservation
• Conservation of magnetic charge [G. Rodrigue, D. White]
Z Z
∇ · B n+1/2dΩ = ∇ · B n−1/2dΩ, n = 1, 2, . . .
Ω Ω

• Conservation of electric charge [G. Rodrigue, D. White]

Z Z
∇ · E nψdΩ = ∇ · E n−1ψdΩ, n = 1, 2, . . .
Ω Ω

for all continuous piecewise linear functions ψ vanishing on the bound-

ary of Ω.

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Locally divergence-free Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Elements

• The basis functions are defined on the reference elements.

• They are locally divergence free, hence they save a lot of computational
cost as compared with the standard piecewise polynomial space.
• Proper numerical fluxes need to be defined on the interelement bound-
aries.
• At the final time, projection to the globally divergence free basis func-
tions is done([Cockburn, et. al.]).

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DG Finite Element Spaces

P p(K) space of polynomial functions of degree at most p on K
e p := {φ ∈ (L2(Ω))3 : φ|K ∈ (P p(K))3, ∀K ∈ Ih}
Σ h
Σh(divh) := {φ ∈ Σph : ∇h · φ|K = 0, ∀K ∈ Ih}
p 0

e p on each element is
• Dimension of the space Σ h

1
(p + 1)(p + 2)(p + 3)
2
• Dimension of the space Σph(divh0 ) on each element is
1
(p + 1)(p + 2)(2p + 9)
6
which is about 2/3 of the original space, hence
They are computationally cheap
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DG Weak Formulation
p
Find Eh , Bh ∈ Σh (divh0 )
Z Z Z
∂
Eh · ϕ dx = µ−1Bh · (∇h × ϕ) dx + (nK × µ−1BbK ) · ϕ ds,
∂t ZK KZ Z ∂K
∂
Bh · ψ dx = − Eh · (∇h × ψ) dx − (nK × E
bK ) · ψ ds,
∂t K K ∂K
p
for all ϕ, ψ ∈ Σh (divh0 ), for all K ∈ Ih .

• The numerical fluxes E

bK and B
bK are field approximations on ∂K .

Compare with the weak form of vector FEM:

Z Z
∂
E · V dx = (µ−1B) · (∇ × V )dx
∂t ZΩ ΩZ
∂
B · Zdx = − (∇ × E) · Zdx
∂t Ω Ω
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Construction of globally div-free basis functions

Consider a 2D rectangular domain. Write in each element
7   
    
X 1 hxX̄ Ȳ 0
U= uiwi = u1 + u2 + u3 + u4
0−hy Ȳ 0 1
i=1
   2
  
0 hx(12X̄ − 1) −24hxX̄ Ȳ
+ u5 +u6 +u7
X̄ −24hy X̄ Ȳ hy (12Ȳ 2 − 1)

• The functions {wi}7i=1 are orthogonal and divergence free.

• The last two terms are added to do normal jump correction.

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Construction of globally div-free basis functions . . .

f 3

• Restriction of U · n on
f
– f1 and f3 faces is linear in X̄ 4 f 2

– f2 and f4 faces is linear in Ȳ y

f
x

• Assume these linear functions are

– on face f1 : a1 + b1 X̄, – on face f3 : a3 + b3X̄
– on face f2 : a2 + b2Ȳ , – on face f4 : a4 + b4Ȳ

The Gauss divergence theorem implies the following constraint

(a2 − a4)hy + (a3 − a1)hx = 0.

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Construction of globally div-free basis functions . . .

• The following relations hold

a1 + a2 a2 − a4 a3 + a1
u1 = − 2u6hx, u2 = , u4 = − 2u7hy
2 hx 2
b2 + b4 b4 − b2 b1 + b3 b1 − b3
u3 = , u7 = , u5 = , u6 = .
2 24hx 2 24hy

• In each element choose ak , bl , k, l = 1, . . . , 4 as the degrees of freedom

but with one constraint on ak .

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Construction of globally div-free basis functions . . .

• Choose in which edges there are degrees of freedom for ’a’.

• The basis functions have quite global support, this reflects global nature
of the divergence–free condition.

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Making divergence free field

Let Bh is DG solution of Maxwell’s equations, then

∇h · Bh = 0 on each element K, but ∇ · Bh 6=0 on Ω.

• Expand Bh with globally divergence free bases

N
X
Bh = b̃j w̃j
j=1

• Apply Galerkin projection

N
X
(Bh, w̃i) = b̃j (w̃i, w̃j ), i = 1, 2, . . . , N
j=1

• The projection matrix is symmetric positive definite, hence the PCG

method can be applied.
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Approximation results

u − the smooth exact solution (∇ · u = 0),

uh − the solution obtained by using the locally div -free bases, (∇h · uh = 0)
Ph − L2 projection operator to the globally divergence free bases, then

||u − uh|| ≤ C||u||k+1hk+1/2

||u − Phuh|| ≤ C||u||k+1hk+1

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NACM approach, preliminary results

• The same local basis functions.

• Construction of globally divergence free bases
– For normal jump correction add sufficient functions associated from
the faces.
– Use bubble functions to achieve divergence freedom inside element.
• Projection to the globally divergence free bases.
• Flexible for p – adaptation.

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Conclusion
• Vector finite elements
– The boundary conditions are satisfied in the best possible way.
– Provide the right kind of continuity for the fields (conforming ele-
ments).
– For some elements they satisfy the divergence constraint locally.
• Discontinuous Finite Elements
– Easy to do hp – adaptation.
– Locally divergence free.
– Satisfy the divergence constraints exactly.

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