Antenna 

theory: Finite-Difference Maxwell’s Equations

Consider Maxwell’s curl equations in the time domain, including lossy materials:

   (1)
Equations (1) contain the source currents J and M and include losses due to conducting dielectric
material σ and magnetic material losses σ∗. Both equations have the same form, with only an
interchange of symbols. Expanding the curl operator, we get the following equation for the x-
component of the magnetic field:

  (2)
The x-component of the electric field has the same form but with the
interchanges .   You obtain the equations for
the y- and z-components by a cyclic variation (repeating pattern of interchanges)
x → y → z → x → y, and so on. For example, the equations are reduced to two dimensions by
leaving out the y-component.
FDTD calculates the field at discrete times and locations on a grid. The fields can be represented
as an indexed function using integers:

 
Because we use central differences, for derivatives, and the magnetic (electric) field is found
from the space derivative of the electric (magnetic) field, the magnetic and electric fields need to
be spaced a half-space interval apart. The time derivative becomes

 
and means that the electric and magnetic components are interspersed at  t/2 times that which
produces a leapfrog algorithm. We substitute these ideas into Eq. (2) to derive the time-stepping
equation for one component:
 (3)
FDTD uses similar equations for the other components.
Yee’s Cell Figure 1 shows one cubic cell and the components of the fields. When we consider
the upper face, we see that the magnetic field components are spaced a half space interval from
the central electrical field and the arrows show the direction of fields. Although it would appear
that the electric field is different on the upper and lower face along the z-axis, the method
assumes that the field is constant throughout the cell. The magnetic fields shown are at the center
of adjoining cells.
 
FIGURE 1 Unit cell of a Yee space lattice showing time and space separation of electric and
magnetic fields in a cell.
A leapfrog solution uses stored values of the electric fields to calculate the magnetic fields at a
half time interval later and stores these values. In the second step the solution takes another half
time step and uses the stored values of the magnetic fields to calculate the electric fields. The
method gains stability by using the half time steps and by solving for both electric and magnetic
fields. Although the fields are a half time step out of synch, we can average between the two half
time steps to produce simultaneous fields at a point, but we only need to do this when calculating
equivalent currents on the surface used for far-field pattern calculations