Fast volumetric integral-equation solver for high-contrast acoustics.

An approach for solving volumetric integral equations in acoustics, applicable to problems involving large density contrasts, is described. While the conventional Lippmann-Schwinger integral equations become under such circumstances ill conditioned, the proposed approach reformulates them and casts them into an equivalent system of well-conditioned surface and volume integral equations. The corresponding fast solver [utilizing stiffness matrix compression based on fast Fourier transforms and characterized by O(N log N) solution complexity and storage requirements, where N is the number of unknowns] was enhanced to incorporate the proposed formulation. Features of the solution method and of the solver are illustrated on representative examples of numerically large problems. (C) 2008 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.2998787]