Godunov scheme for Maxwell's equations with Kerr nonlinearity

Abstract

We study the Godunov scheme for a nonlinear Maxwell model arising in nonlinear optics, the Kerr model. This is a hyperbolic system of conservation laws with some eigenvalues of variable multiplicity, neither genuinely nonlinear nor linearly degenerate. The solution of the Riemann problem for the full-vector 6x6 system is constructed and proved to exist for all data. This solution is compared to the one of the reduced Transverse Magnetic model. The scheme is implemented in one and two space dimensions. The results are very close to the ones obtained with a Kerr-Debye relaxation approximation.