A Review on Fast Direct Methods of Surface Integral Equations for Analysis of Electromagnetic Scattering from 3-D PEC Objects

Abstract

This paper reviews a series of fast direct solution methods for electromagnetic scattering analysis, aiming to significantly alleviate the problems of slow or even non-convergence of iterative solvers and to provide a fast and robust numerical solution for integral equations. Then the advantages and applications of fast direct solution methods and the research trends are introduced in detail. Three different main methods are discussed, namely hierarchically off-diagonal low-rank matrices (HODLR) and skeletonization direct methods based on weak and strong admissibility condition. Numerical examples of computational complexity and electromagnetic scattering analysis of jet models are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of each approach. Finally, a brief discussion is given on the main challenges and possible strategies of fast direct solution methods which still exist.