A Fourier method for the numerical solution of Poisson’s equation

Abstract

A method for the solution of Poisson’s equation in a rectangle, based on the relation between the Fourier coefficients for the solution and those for the right-hand side, is developed. The Fast Fourier Transform is used for the computation and its influence on the accuracy is studied. Error estimates are given and the method is shown to be second order accurate under certain general conditions on the smoothness of the solution. The accuracy is found to be limited by the lack of smoothness of the periodic extension of the inhomogeneous term. Higher order methods are then derived with the aid of special solutions. This reduces the problem to a case with sufficiently smooth data. A comparison of accuracy and efficiency is made between our Fourier method and the Buneman algorithm for the solution of the standard finite difference formulae.