A numerical study of caustics and polarizations of seismic waves interacting with three-dimensional geological structures (Q1097019)

This is an intriguing, thought provoking, well written paper, linking non-trivially some up-to-date high level mathematics with very down to Earth applications. A connection is established between standing elastic waves on general three-dimensional basins and catastrophe theory. The vehicle is seismic ray tracing, and one of the practical implications is the correlation between localized damage and the creation of caustic surfaces by bowl shaped basins that focus the energy of large shocks. Multiple reflection caustics are generated in computer simulations and rendered in beautiful colors.