Accurate and scalable deep Maxwell solvers

Neural networks have promise as surrogate partial differential equation (PDE) solvers, but it remains a challenge to use these concepts to solve problems with high accuracy and scalability. In this work, we show that neural network surrogates can combine with iterative algorithms to accurately solve PDE problems featuring different scales, resolutions, and boundary conditions. We develop a subdomain neural operator model that supports arbitrary Robin-type boundary condition inputs, and we show that it can be utilized as a flexible preconditioner to iteratively solve subdomain problems with bounded accuracy. We further show that our subdomain models can facilitate the construction of global coarse spaces to enable accelerated, large scale PDE problem solving based on iterative multilevel domain decomposition. With two-dimensional Maxwell's equations as a model system, we train a single network to simulate large scale problems with different sizes, resolutions, wavelengths, and dielectric media distribution. We further demonstrate the utility of our platform in performing the accurate inverse design of multiwavelength nanophotonic devices. Our work presents a promising path to building accurate and scalable multiphysics surrogate solvers for large practical problems.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2026-04-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2530330123
Primary Topic
Electromagnetic Simulation and Numerical Methods
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Accurate and scalable deep Maxwell solvers

Chenkai Mao, Jonathan A. Fan
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Electromagnetic Simulation and Numerical Methods
article

Accurate and scalable deep Maxwell solvers

Chenkai Mao, Jonathan A. Fan
article en

Abstract

Neural networks have promise as surrogate partial differential equation (PDE) solvers, but it remains a challenge to use these concepts to solve problems with high accuracy and scalability. In this work, we show that neural network surrogates can combine with iterative algorithms to accurately solve PDE problems featuring different scales, resolutions, and boundary conditions. We develop a subdomain neural operator model that supports arbitrary Robin-type boundary condition inputs, and we show that it can be utilized as a flexible preconditioner to iteratively solve subdomain problems with bounded accuracy. We further show that our subdomain models can facilitate the construction of global coarse spaces to enable accelerated, large scale PDE problem solving based on iterative multilevel domain decomposition. With two-dimensional Maxwell's equations as a model system, we train a single network to simulate large scale problems with different sizes, resolutions, wavelengths, and dielectric media distribution. We further demonstrate the utility of our platform in performing the accurate inverse design of multiwavelength nanophotonic devices. Our work presents a promising path to building accurate and scalable multiphysics surrogate solvers for large practical problems.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 123(18)
Stanford University (US)
National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Electromagnetic Simulation and Numerical Methods
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Accurate and scalable deep Maxwell solvers — Chenkai Mao, Jonathan A. Fan · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS