Comparison of discrete exterior calculus and discrete-dipole approximation for electromagnetic scattering.

Abstract: In this study, we perform numerical computations of electromagnetic fields including applications such as light scattering. We present two methods for discretizing the computational domain. One is the discrete-dipole approximation (DDA), which is a well-known technique in the context of light scattering. The other approach is the discrete exterior calculus (DEC) providing the properties and the calculus of differential forms in a natural way at the discretization stage. Numerical experiments show that the DEC provides a promising alternative for solving the general Maxwell equations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]