An accurate scheme for the numerical solution of the time domain electric field integral equation

Time domain integral equation (TDIE) based methods for the solution of electromagnetic scattering and radiation problems have steadily increased in popularity. The accuracy of TDIE techniques remains largely unstudied. Though methods for improving the accuracy and convergence properties of the spatial discretization of TDIEs can be based on well-known frequency domain method of moments (MoM) techniques, temporal discretization methods are still poorly understood. In this work, a band-limited interpolation function (BLIF) is used as the temporal basis function to improve this state of affairs. It is shown that TDIE solutions created using BLIFs for temporal interpolation converge exponentially to the solution provided by the MoM with the amount of work required to produce them. In addition, unlike the method presented by Weile, Shanker, Ergin, and Michielssen (see Antennas and Propagation International Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, 2000), the method presented here is shown to work on both the electric and magnetic field integral equations.