Acoustic or electro-magnetic scattering in a waveguide with  varying direction and cross-section can, if the variations takes  place in only one dimension at a time be re-formulated as a  two-dimensional scattering problem. By using the so-called  Building Block Method, it is possible to construct the  scattering properties of a combination of scatterers when the  properties of each scatterer are known. Hence, variations in the  waveguide geometry or in the boundary conditions can be treated   one at a time.  We consider in this work acoustic scattering, but the same  techniques can be used for both electro-magnetic and some quantum  scattering problems.  By suppressing the time dependence and by using the Building Block  Method, the problem takes the form of the Helmholtz equation in a  waveguide of infinite length and with smoothly varying geometry and  boundary conditions.  A conformal mapping is used to transform the  problem into a corresponding problem in a straight horizontal  channel, and by expanding the field in Fourier trigonometric series,  the problem can be reformulated as an infinite-dimensional ordinary  differential equation. From this, numerically solvable differential  equations for the reflection and transmission operators are  derived.  To be applicable in the Building Block Method, the numerical  conformal mapping must be constructed such that the direction of the  boundary curve can be controlled. At the channel ends, it is an  indispensable requirement, that the two boundary curves are (at least)  asymptotically parallel and straight. Furthermore, to achieve  bounded operators in the differential equations, the boundary curves  must satisfy different regularity conditions, depending on the  properties of the boundary.  Several methods to accomplish such conformal mappings are  presented. The Schwarz-Christoffel mapping, which is a natural starting point and for which  also efficient numerical software exists, can be modified in  different ways to round the polygon corners, and we show algorithms  by which the parameter problem can be solved after such  modifications. It is also possible to use the unmodified Schwarz-Christoffel mapping for  regions with smooth boundary, by constructing an appropriate outer  polygon to the considered region.  Finally, we show how a so-called  zipper algorithm can be used for waveguides.

Electro-magnetic scattering is studied in a waveguide with varying shape and crosssection. Furthermore, an impedance or admittance condition is applied to two of the waveguide walls. Under the condition that variations in geometry or impedance take place in only one plane at the time, the problem can be solved as a two-dimensional wave-scattering problems. By using newly developed numerical conformal mapping techniques, the problem is transformedinto a wave-scattering problem in a straight two-dimensional channel. A numerically stable formulation is reached in terms of transmission and reflection operators. Numerical results are given for a slowly varying waveguide with a bend and for one more complex geometry.

A method where polygon corners in Schwarz-Christoffel mappings are rounded, is used to construct mappings from the upper half-plane to regions bounded by arbitrary piecewise smooth curves. From a given curve, a polygon is constructed by taking tangents to the curve in a number of carefully chosen so called tangent points. The Schwarz-Christoffel mapping for that polygon is then constructed and modified to round the corners.Since such a modification causes effects on the polygon outside the rounded corners, the parameters in the mapping have to be re-determined. This is done by comparing side-lengths in tangent polygons to the given curve and the curve produced by the modified Schwarz-Christoffel mapping. The set of equations that this comparison gives, can normally be solved using a quasi--Newton method.The resulting function maps the upper half--plane on a region bounded by a curve that apart from possible vertices is smooth, i.e., one time continuously differentiable, that passes through the tangent points on the given curve, has the same direction as the given curve in these points and changes direction monotonically between them. Furthermore, where the original curve has a vertex, the constructed curve has a vertex with the same inner angle.The method is especially useful for unbounded regions with smooth boundary curves that pass infinity as straight lines, such as channels with parallel walls at the ends. These properties are kept in the region produced by the constructed mapping.

The Schwarz–Christoffel mapping from the upper half-plane to a polygonal region in the complex plane is an integral of a product with several factors, where each factor corresponds to a certain vertex in the polygon. Different modifications of the Schwarz–Christoffel mapping in which factors are replaced with the so-called curve factors to achieve polygons with rounded corners are known since long times. Among other requisites, the arguments of a curve factor and its correspondent scl factor must be equal outside some closed interval on the real axis.

In this paper, the term approximate curve factor is defined such that many of the already known curve factors are included as special cases. Additionally, by alleviating the requisite on the argument from exact to asymptotic equality, new types of curve factors are introduced. While traditional curve factors have a C¹ regularity, C^∞ regular approximate curve factors can be constructed, resulting in smooth boundary curves when used in conformal mappings.

Applications include modelling of wave scattering in waveguides. When using approximate curve factors in modified Schwarz–Christoffel mappings, numerical conformal mappings can be constructed that preserve two important properties in the waveguides. First, the direction of the boundary curve can be well controlled, especially towards infinity, where the application requires two straight parallel walls. Second, a smooth (C^∞) boundary curve can be achieved.

An approximate conformal mapping for an arbitrary region Ω bounded by a smooth curve Γ is constructed using the Schwarz–Christoffel mapping for a polygonal region in which Ω is embedded. An algorithm for finding this so-called outer polygon is presented. The resulting function is a conformal mapping from the upper half-plane or the unit disk to a region R, approximately equal to Ω. R is bounded by a C∞ curve, and since the mapping function originates from the Schwarz–Christoffel mapping and tangent polygons are used to determine it, important properties of Γ such as direction, linear asymptotes, and inflexion points are preserved in the boundary of R. The method makes extensive use of existing Schwarz–Christoffel software in both the determination of outer polygons and the calculation of function values. By the use suggested here, the capabilities of such well-written software are extended.

In the so called outer polygon method, an approximative conformal mapping for a given simply connected region Ω is constructed using a Schwarz–Christoffel mapping for an outer polygon, a polygonal region of which Ω is a subset. The resulting region is then bounded by a C^∞-curve, which among other things means that its curvature is bounded.In this work, we study the curvature of an inner curve in a polygon, i.e., the image under the Schwarz–Christoffel mapping from R, the unit disk or upper half–plane, to a polygonal region P of a curve inside R. From the Schwarz–Christoffel formula, explicit expressions for the curvature are derived, and for boundary curves, appearing in the outer polygon method, estimations of boundaries for the curvature are given.

The so called geodesic algorithm, which is one of the zipper algorithms for conformal mappings, is combined with a Schwarz–Christoffel mapping, in its original or in a modified form, to produce a conformal mapping function between the upper half-plane and an arbitrary channel with smooth boundary and parallel walls at the end.