Maksim Sipos '08 and associate professor Bruce Thompson published an article, "Electrodynamics on a Grid: The Finite-difference Time-domain Method Applied to Optics and Cloaking," in the April/May 2008 issue of the American Journal of Physics. This is a special "theme" issue on the role of computation in physics and physics teaching.
The paper describes a powerful computational technique for simulating systems which involve radio, cell phone, or light waves. The method is simple and instructive for understanding the genesis of electromagnetic waves. It goes on to apply the technique to optical phenomena and demonstrates how an "invisibility cloak" could theoretically be constructed.
To learn more, please attend Maksim's talk at the Whalen Symposium on April 8.
More Information on the James J. Whalen Symposium
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20080327100631305