Convergence of the conjugate gradient method when applied to matrix equations representing electromagnetic scattering problems

An iterative procedure based on the conjugate gradient method is used to solve a variety of matrix equations representing electromagnetic scattering problems, in an attempt to characterize the typical rate of convergence of that method. It is found that this rate depends on the cell density per wavelength used in the discretization, the presence of symmetries in the solution, and the degree to which mixed cell sizes are used in the models. Assuming cell densities used in the discretization are in the range of ten per linear wavelength, the iterative algorithm typically requiresN/4toN/2steps to converge to necessary accuracy, whereNis the order of the matrix under consideration.