A Python toolbox for computing solutions to canonical problems in electromagnetics

One of the most important steps in the development of any numerical code is the validation of the implementation by comparison of the results obtained for a set of test cases to the exact solution. In the context of codes developed for high-frequency electromagnetics, this usually means comparing computed results to analytical solutions. Obtaining these analytical solutions can be a nontrivial problem, although fortunately it need only be implemented once, and can then be used repeatedly to validate any new code. This paper concentrates on finding the analytical solution to eigenvalue problems for a range of standard geometries, as well as the near-field solution for plane-wave scattering from a PEC sphere. The solutions are implemented using the Python programming language and the SciPy library of scientific functions