A novel direct Helmholtz solver in inhomogeneous media based on the operator Fourier transform functional calculus

This article presents novel numerical algorithms based on pseudodifferential operators (ΨDO) for fast, direct solution of the Helmholtz equation in one-, two- and three-dimensional inhomogeneous unbounded media. The proposed approach relies on an Operator Fourier Transform (OFT) representation of ΨDO which frame the problem of computing the inverse Helmholtz operator, with a spatially-dependent wave speed, in terms of two sequential applications of an inverse square root ΨDO. The OFT representation of the action of the square root ΨDO, in turn, can be effected as a superposition of solutions of a pseudo-temporal initial-boundary-value problem for a paraxial equation. The OFT framework offers several advantages over traditional direct and iterative approaches for the solution of the Helmholtz equation. The operator integral transform is amenable to standard quadrature methods and the required pseudo-temporal paraxial equation solutions can be obtained using any suitable numerical method. A specialized quadrature is derived to evaluate the OFT efficiently and an alternating direction implicit method, used in conjunction with standard finite differences, is used to solve the requisite component paraxial equation problems. Numerical studies, in 1, 2, and 3 spatial dimensions, are presented to confirm the expected OFT-based Helmholtz solver convergence rate. In addition, the efficiency and versatility of our proposed approach is demonstrated by tackling nontrivial wave propagation problems, including 2D plane wave scattering from a geometrically complex inhomogeneity, 3D scattering from turbulent channel flow and plane wave transmission through a spherically-symmetric gradient-index acoustic lens. All computations, even the latter lens problem which involves solving the Helmholtz equation with more than one billion complex unknowns, are performed in a single workstation.