Random backscattering in the parabolic scaling (Q927199)

The paper revisits the parabolic approximation for wave propagation in random media with the emphasis on backscattering. A system of transport equations is obtained for the moments of the components of reflection and transmission operators. Particular attention is paid to the enhanced back scattering phenomenon, where it is shown that the mean power reflected from an incident quasi-plane wave has a maximum in the backscattering direction. While this phenomenon, also called weak localization, is well-known in physics, the paper presents a mathematical derivation of it by the asymptotic analysis in the weak backscattering regime.