2D electromagnetic scattering by simple shapes: a quantification of the error due to open boundary

Two different methods of introducing an artificial boundary to solve unbounded wave propagation problems are compared: global methods such as the boundary-element method (BEM), and local methods, such as the absorbing boundary conditions. Tests performed for scattering by simple shapes have been. Except for low frequencies (<1 GHz), it was found that absorbing boundary conditions give more accurate results than the present implementation of the hybrid finite-element/boundary-element method. This is due to the approximate symmetrization of the boundary-element matrix used for the hybrid method