A nonconforming mixed finite element method for Maxwell's equations

Abstract

We present a nonconforming mixed finite element scheme for the approximate solution of the time-harmonic Maxwell's equations in a three-dimensional, bounded domain with absorbing boundary conditions on artificial boundaries. The numerical procedures are employed to solve the direct problem in magnetotellurics consisting in determining a scattered electromagnetic field in a model of the earth having bounded conductivity anomalies of arbitrary shapes. A domain-decomposition iterative algorithm which is naturally parallelizable and is based on a hybridization of the mixed method allows the solution of large three-dimensional models. Convergence of the approximation by the mixed method is proved, as well as the convergence of the iteration.