Impact of Courant number on the results of numerical simulating of signal propagation in non-dispersive homogeneous media

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the study of the connection between the numerical dispersion arising in FDTD modeling of electromagnetic signal propagation in nondispersive homogeneous media optically different from vacuum and the Courant number in the 2D case. The main results are formulated in the form of four statements, as well as a number of corollaries and remarks that determine the nature of the numerical dispersion, the optimal value of the Courant number and the limitations of the method. It is proved that the optimal choice of the Courant number eliminates the numerical dispersion and extends the capabilities of the developed numerical algorithm to media, which refractive index is lesser than refractive index of vacuum, as well as media with negative refraction.