A fortran program (RELAX3D) to solve the 3 dimensional poisson (Laplace) equation.pdf

A Fortran Program (RELAX3D) to Solve the 3 Dimensional Poisson (Laplace) Equation H. Houtman*, C.J. Kost TRIUMF, University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C., Canada I) Introduction RELAX3D is an efficient, user friendly, interactive FORTRAN program which solves the Poisson (Laplace) equation q~ = p for a general 3 dimensional geometry consisting of Dirichlet and Neumann boundaries approximated to lie on a regular 3 dimensional mesh. The finite difference equations at these nodes are solved using a successive point-iterative over-relaxation method 1,2). A menu of commands, supplemented by an extensive HELP facility controls the dynamic loading of the subroutine describing the problem case, the iterations to converge to a solution, and the contour plotting of any desired slices etc. Basic parts of the program were developed in 1973 3) based on work by others4, 5) with the idea in mind that appropriate applications would be found for it at some future date when computers could run it in a practical manner. Fortunately, our view into the crystal ball turned out to be accurate and the program has found many problems to solve both at TRIUMF and elsewhere. 2) Method Finite difference methods, dating back to Gauss 6) can be used to obtain numerical solutions, to any desired accuracy, for all static electric and magnetic fields in uniform media and time-varying fields where eddy currents can be neglected. We will restrict ourselves to problems given in TABLE I. The partial differential equation for the field, being replaced by a set of finite difference equations at discrete points in a mesh occupying the volume of interest, results in a large number of equations connecting the potential ~ at each point with those of adjacent points and is solved by an iterative procedure known as relaxation. The basis of the iteration procedure is that the potential ￠ at each grid point (that is allowed to vary) on each iteration is replaced using the finite