Finite difference method is an important methodology in the approximation of waves. In this paper, we will study two implicit finite difference schemes for the simulation of waves. They are the weighted alternating direction implicit (ADI) scheme and the locally one-dimensional (LOD) scheme. The approximation errors, stability conditions, and dispersion relations for both schemes are investigated. Our analysis shows that the LOD implicit scheme has less dispersion error than that of the ADI scheme. Moreover, the unconditional stability for both schemes with arbitrary spatial accuracy is established for the first time. In order to improve computational efficiency, numerical algorithms based on message passing interface (MPI) are implemented. Numerical examples of wave propagation in a three-layer model and a standard complex model are presented. Our analysis and comparisons show that both ADI and LOD schemes are able to efficiently and accurately simulate wave propagation in complex media.

We present a new high order method in space and time for solving the wave equation, based on a new interpretation of the “Modified Equation” technique. Indeed, contrary to most of the works, we consider the time discretization before the space discretization. After the time discretization, an additional biharmonic operator appears, which can not be discretized by classical finite elements. We propose a new Discontinuous Galerkin method for the discretization of this operator, and we provide numerical experiments proving that the new method is more accurate than the classical Modified Equation technique with a lower computational burden.