An Introduction to the Locally Corrected Nystrom Method

This lecture provides a tutorial introduction to the Nyström and locally-corrected Nyström methods when used for the numerical solutions of the common integral equations of two-dimensional electromagnetic fields. These equations exhibit kernel singularities that complicate their numerical solution. Classical and generalized Gaussian quadrature rules are reviewed. The traditional Nyström method is summarized, and applied to the magnetic field equation for illustration. To obtain high order accuracy in the numerical results, the locally-corrected Nyström method is developed and applied to both the electric field and magnetic field equations. In the presence of target edges, where current or charge density singularities occur, the method must be extended through the use of appropriate singular basis functions and special quadrature rules. This extension is also described.