A high-order finite volume method for Maxwell's equations in heterogeneous and time-varying media

Abstract: We develop a finite volume method for Maxwell's equations in materials whose electromagnetic properties vary in space and time. We investigate both conservative and non-conservative numerical formulations. High-order methods accurately resolve fine structures that develop due to the varying material properties. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in handling temporal variation and its efficiency relative to traditional 2nd-order FDTD.