Maximum entropy estimate of the solution to the inverse problem of acoustic scattering (Q1087029)

The author considers propagation of a plane wave in a multiphase viscoelastic material in which the material parameters are a random function of position. It is assumed that the actual material can be replaced by an overall material characterized by an effective density and an effective tensor of moduli. It is demonstrated that the mean wave has the forms of an attenuated plane wave. The central question addressed in this work is: given the characteristic of the mean wave (obtained from physical measurements) and the volume concentrations, densities and moduli of the various phases, can the joint probability density of finding a specified phase and displacement field at a point be deduced? The technique employed is to maximize the joint entropy associated with this probability density subject to the constraints imposed by the forms of the mean wave and the equation of motion in the effective material. Equations are derived in the case of small modulus fluctuations whose solutions would provide a maximum entropy estimate for the probability density.