A quantum-like theory of wave propagation in periodic structures (Q919863)

The author considers wave propagation in a periodic system consisting of a taut, massless string to which point masses are attached almost periodically, and shows that the monochromatic waves in this system can be described by a formalism which is similar to the de Broglie- Schrödinger theory of quantum mechanics. In the author's previous works [Report MAE 1714, Princeton Univ. (1985), and ``Computational Acoustics'', edited by \textit{D. Lee}, \textit{R. Sternberg} and \textit{M. Schultz} (1987; Zbl 0684.00026)], he has considered wave propagation from the point view of numerical computation in which hyperbolic equations are approximated by finite differences. Then he has shown the similarities between numerical phenomena and corresponding aspects of quantum mechanics. This work is the continuation of these investigations. By these researches, the author suggests the possibility that, though the classical Schrödinger theory is applied only to atomic scaled phenomena, this new formalism may describe large scale processes.