Multilevel fast multipole algorithm for electromagnetic scattering by large complex objects

Abstract

The fast multipole method (FMM) and multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) are reviewed. The number of modes required, block-diagonal preconditioner, near singularity extraction, and the choice of initial guesses are discussed to apply the MLFMA to calculating electromagnetic scattering by large complex objects. Using these techniques, we can solve the problem of electromagnetic scattering by large complex three-dimensional (3-D) objects such as an aircraft (VFY218) on a small computer.