Examination, Clarification, and Simplification of Stability and Dispersion Analysis for ADI-FDTD and CNSS-FDTD Schemes

We describe a rigorous analysis of unconditional stability for the alternating-direction-implicit finite-difference time-domain (ADI-FDTD) and Crank-Nicholson split step (CNSS-FDTD) schemes avoiding use of the von Neumann spectral criterion. The proof is performed in the spectral domain, and uses skew-Hermitivity of matrix terms in the ADI and CNSS total amplification matrices. A bound for the total ADI amplification matrix is provided. While the CN and CNSS-FDTD amplification matrices are unitary, the bound on the ADI-FDTD depends on the Courant number. Importantly, we have found that the ADI-FDTD amplification matrix is not normal, i.e., the unit spectral radius alone cannot be used to prove the ADI-FDTD unconditional stability. The paper also shows that the ADI-FDTD and CNSS-FDTD schemes share the same dispersion equation by a similarity of their total amplification matrices, and the two schemes have identical numerical dispersion in the frame of plane waves.