A domain decomposition method for solving the three-dimensional time-harmonic Maxwell equations discretized by discontinuous Galerkin methods

We present here a domain decomposition method for solving the three-dimensional time-harmonic Maxwell equations discretized by a discontinuous Galerkin method. In order to allow the treatment of irregularly shaped geometries, the discontinuous Galerkin method is formulated on unstructured tetrahedral meshes. The domain decomposition strategy takes the form of a Schwarz-type algorithm where a continuity condition on the incoming characteristic variables is imposed at the interfaces between neighboring subdomains. A multifrontal sparse direct solver is used at the subdomain level. The resulting domain decomposition strategy can be viewed as a hybrid iterative/direct solution method for the large, sparse and complex coefficients algebraic system resulting from the discretization of the time-harmonic Maxwell equations by a discontinuous Galerkin method. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.