An analogy between dispersive wave propagation and special relativity (Q1122382)

By defining essentially the ``relativistic'' mass and the position of a wave packet in terms of the \(L_ 2\)-norm of the amplitude and introducing appropriate definitions for the corresponding linear momentum, kinetic energy and potential energy, the author shows that the dynamics of wave packets in nonuniform dispersive media satisfies relations which are analogous in form to those describing the relativistic dynamics of mass particles. This standpoint is illustrated by the example of a taut string on which discrete masses are attached at irregular intervals. A numerical experiment exhibits the motion and the reflection of a wave packet by a gradient in the analog of a relativistic potential. There must be something deeper rooted in this analogy (ray approximation for waves of which the phase is a Lorentz invariant?), but the analogy is not pursued further.