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meanas

meanas is a Python package for finite-difference electromagnetic simulation. It combines:

  • meanas.fdfd for frequency-domain operators, sources, waveguide modes, and SCPML
  • meanas.fdtd for Yee-grid timestepping, CPML, energy/flux accounting, and phasor extraction
  • meanas.fdmath for the shared discrete operators and derivations underneath both solvers

This documentation is built directly from the package docstrings. The API pages are the source of truth for the mathematical derivations and calling conventions.

Examples and API Map

For most users, the tracked examples under examples/ are the right entry point. They show the intended combinations of tools for solving complete problems.

Relevant starting examples:

  • examples/fdtd.py for broadband pulse excitation and phasor extraction
  • examples/waveguide.py for guided phasor-domain FDTD/FDFD comparison
  • examples/waveguide_real.py for real-valued continuous-wave FDTD compared against real fields reconstructed from an FDFD solution, including guided-core, mode-weighted, and guided-mode / residual comparisons
  • examples/eme.py for straight-interface mode matching / EME and modal scattering between two nearby waveguide cross-sections
  • examples/eme_bend.py for straight-to-bent mode matching with cylindrical bend modes and a cascaded bend-network example
  • examples/fdfd.py for direct frequency-domain waveguide excitation

For solver equivalence, prefer the phasor-based examples first. They compare the extracted +\omega content of the FDTD run directly against the FDFD solution and are the main accuracy benchmarks in the test suite.

examples/waveguide_real.py answers a different, stricter question: how well a late raw real snapshot matches Re(E_\omega e^{i\omega t}) on a monitor plane. That diagnostic is useful, but it also includes orthogonal residual structure that the phasor comparison intentionally filters out.

The API pages are better read as a toolbox map and derivation reference:

  • Use the FDTD API for time-domain stepping, CPML, phasor extraction, and real-field reconstruction from FDFD phasors.
  • Use the FDFD API for driven frequency-domain solves and sparse operator algebra.
  • Use the Waveguide API for mode solving, port sources, and overlap windows.
  • Use the fdmath API for the lower-level finite-difference operators and the shared discrete derivations underneath both solvers.

Build outputs

The docs build generates two HTML views from the same source:

  • a normal multi-page site
  • a print-oriented combined page under site/print_page/

If htmlark is installed, ./make_docs.sh also writes a fully inlined site/standalone.html.