T-matrix method for closely adjacent obstacles

This paper presents a novel method to calculate the T-matrix for two non-spherical obstacles positioned close to each other, where the individual circumscribed spheres intersect. This is achieved by translating the obstacles coordinate systems, using translation matrices for spherical vector waves. The new circumscribing spheres enables the obstacles to be positioned close to each other. A new total T-matrix of the two-obstacle system can then be calculated using methods for composite particles, i.e., the superposition T-matrix method. This total T-matrix will generally be larger than the original ones, depending on the sizes of the circumscribing spheres used in the coordinate translation procedure. However, it is shown that the total T-matrix can be truncated after transformation to a common origin, without degrading the accuracy. The total truncated T-matrix is only slightly larger than the original individual ones. The method is demonstrated for electromagnetic scattering simulations of two metallic disks, closely adjacent to each other.