Multilevel Fast Multipole Algorithm for Characteristic Mode Analysis

Characteristic mode (CM) analysis poses challenges in computational electromagnetics (CEM) as it calls for efficient solutions of dense generalized eigenvalue problems (GEP). Multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) can greatly reduce the computational complexity and memory cost for matrix-vector product operations, which is powerful in iteratively solving large scattering problems. In this article, we demonstrate that MLFMA can be easily incorporated into the implicit restarted Arnoldi (IRA) method for the calculation of CMs, where MLFMA with the sparse approximate inverse (SAI) preconditioning technique is employed to accelerate the construction of Arnoldi vectors. This work paves the way of CM analysis for large-scale and complicated three-dimensional ($3$-D) objects with limited computational resources.