Cartesian Coordinate, Oblique Boundary, Finite Differences and Interpolation

Abstract

A numerical scheme is described for accurately accommodating oblique, non-aligned, boundaries, on a three-dimensional cartesian grid. The scheme gives second-order accuracy in the solution for potential of Poisson's equation using compact difference stencils involving only nearest neighbors. Implementation for general "Robin" boundary conditions and for boundaries between media of different dielectric constant for arbitrary-shaped regions is described in detail. The scheme also provides for the interpolation of field (potential gradient) which, despite first-order peak errors immediately adjacent to the boundaries, has overall second order accuracy, and thus provides with good accuracy what is required in particle-in-cell codes: the force. Numerical tests on the implementation confirm the scalings and the accuracy.