Propagation of initially plane waves in the region of random caustics (Q802356)
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English | Propagation of initially plane waves in the region of random caustics |
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Propagation of initially plane waves in the region of random caustics (English)
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1985
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It is assumed that a high frequency plane wave is described by the equations of ray theory with a random, smoothly-varying, homogeneous and isotropic propagation speed, which is a small, O(\(\sigma)\) for \(0<\sigma \ll 1\), mean zero perturbation of a constant. In previous work by \textit{V. A. Kulkarny} and the second author [Phys. Fluids 25, 1770-1784 (1982; Zbl 0531.76059)], it has been shown that caustics form along every ray, on a large propagation distance scale of order \(O(\sigma^{-2/3})\), when angular deviations of the ray are still small but deviations in ray position and raytube area are O(1). Furthermore, the probability of caustic formation is, up to a single scale factor, as \(\sigma\) \(\downarrow 0\) a universal curve which defines the region of random caustics. In this paper, we derive a forward Kolmogorov (Fokker-Planck) equation for the joint statistics of an arbitrary number of ray positions and associated quantities in the random caustic region. Equations are derived for the two-point correlation function of intensity or energy in a plane orthogonal to the initial propagation direction of the wave. It is shown that for 'short' distances on the \(O(\sigma^{-2/3})\) scale the solution agrees with that of weak fluctuation theory. The two-dimensional version of the theory is tested by Monte-Carlo simulations.
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short distance expansion
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high frequency plane wave
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equations of ray theory
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random, smoothly-varying, homogeneous and isotropic propagation speed
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mean zero perturbation of a constant
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forward Kolmogorov (Fokker- Planck) equation
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joint statistics
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arbitrary number of ray positions
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random caustic region
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two-point correlation function of intensity or energy
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two-dimensional version
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tested by Monte-Carlo simulations
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