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Common Questions
Answers You Need
Due to the interactive nature of our discussions and topics, we understand that many questions may come up for our members. We’ve compiled a collection of the questions we get asked the most, which you can browse below. If you still have doubts after going through the list, get in touch and someone from our team will get back to you ASAP.
Frequently asked questions
Yes.
The lower the scattering potential, the higher the convergence rate.
For light, the contrast is relatively low compared to sound, this simulations are fast.
The longer the waves reside in the simulation domain, the longer the simulation takes (‘pseudo propagation’).
Note: These constraints are true for other methods as well.
The scattering potential is sampled on a grid.
This quantization error limits the accuracy.
Truncation of the iteration.
At some point you want to stop, even though there may be some low-intensity waves ‘bouncing around.’
Note: Holds for all methods in one way or another.
Yes. WaveSim is a frequency-domain full-vector solver for the curl-curl equation on isotropic, non-magnetic media, solving all three coupled field components. It uses the same Modified Born Series engine as the scalar solver: a split-preconditioned fixed-point iteration that converges for any contrast and domain size. For more details, see the following publications:A convergent Born series for solving the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation in arbitrarily large media. Journal of Computational Physics (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2016.06.034A universal matrix-free split preconditioner for the fixed-point iterative solution of non-symmetric linear systems. arXiv:2207.14222 (2022). https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.14222v2Ultra-thin boundary layer for high-accuracy simulations of light propagation. Optics Express (2021). https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.412833
Yes, it supports both scalar and vector solutions.
Yes! We recently released the Python code on GitHub. This implementation solves the modified Born series through domain decomposition, allowing simulations to be split and run over multiple GPUs. Currently, this code is limited to the Helmholtz equation.
Not yet, but if you require this feature, please contact us to discuss customization options.
Yes, by performing a simulation for each frequency ω and Fourier transform.
See pulse2d.m for an example.
- No, but it can do better: Osnabrugge, Gerwin, Maaike Benedictus, and Ivo M. Vellekoop. "Ultra-thin boundary layer for high-accuracy simulations of light propagation." Optics express 29.2 (2021): 1649-1658.
Yes, you can adjust the parameters in Wavesim to simulate acoustic wave propagation.
No, Wavesim does not currently support the simulation of gain media.
No, Wavesim does not have the capability to simulate nonlinear phenomena.
Wavesim works with high refractive indices just as well, though slower.
Wavesim is an iterative solver that converges monotonically to the correct solution. This means that the residual decreases with every step. If it is small enough, Wavesim stops the iterations.
The effect of this truncation is somewhat similar to terminating a time-resolved simulation (like FDTD) at some point. Each iteration in Wavesim spreads out the solution through space, somewhat analogous to a wave propagating (we call this pseudo propagation). This means that if you want to simulate a cavity with a high Q-factor (with waves bouncing around many times), you need to iterate long enough for the 'pseudo propagating' waves bouncing around in the cavity to decay sufficiently.
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