A formulation of asymptotic and exact boundary conditions using local operators

In this paper we describe a systematic approach for constructing asymptotic boundary conditions for isotropic wave-like equations using local operators. The conditions take a recursive form with increasing order of accuracy. In three dimensions the recursion terminates and the resulting conditions are exact for solutions which are described by finite combinations of angular spherical harmonics. First we develop the expansion for the two-dimensional wave equation and construct a sequence of easily implementable boundary conditions. We show that in three dimensions the analogous conditions are again easily implementable in addition to being exact, Also, we provide extensions of these ideas to hyperbolic systems. Namely, Maxwell's equations for TM waves are used to demonstrate the construction. Finally, we provide numerical examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of these conditions for a model problem governed by the wave equation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. and IMACS. All rights reserved.