Finite-difference time-___domain method: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:14, 11 August 2020

Revision as of 11:09, 4 September 2020

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[[File:Yee cell.png|thumb|250px|In finite-difference time-___domain method, "Yee lattice" is used to discretize [[Maxwell's equations]] in space. This scheme involves the placement of [[Electric field|electric]] and [[magnetic fields]] on a staggered grid.]]

[[File:Yee cell.png|thumb|]]

'''Finite-difference time-___domain''' ('''FDTD''') or '''Yee's method''' (named after the Chinese American applied mathematician [[Kane S. Yee]], born 1934) is a [[numerical analysis]] technique used for modeling [[computational electrodynamics]] (finding approximate solutions to the associated system of [[differential equation]]s). Since it is a [[time ___domain|time-___domain]] method, FDTD solutions can cover a wide [[frequency]] range with a single [[computer simulation|simulation]] run, and treat nonlinear material properties in a natural way.

The FDTD method belongs in the general class of [[Discretization|grid]]-based differential numerical modeling methods ([[finite difference methods]]). The time-dependent [[Maxwell's equations]] (in [[Partial differential equation|partial differential]] form) are discretized using [[central difference|central-difference]] approximations to the space and time [[partial derivative]]s. The resulting [[finite difference method|finite-difference]] equations are solved in either software or hardware in a [[leapfrog integration|leapfrog]] manner: the [[electric field]] [[vector component]]s in a volume of space are solved at a given instant in time; then the [[magnetic field]] vector components in the same spatial volume are solved at the next instant in time; and the process is repeated over and over again until the desired transient or steady-state electromagnetic field behavior is fully evolved.