Propagation of singularities for the wave equation on edge manifolds (Q935191)

In the very interesting paper under review, the authors investigate the geometric propagation and diffraction of singularities of solutions to the wave equation over manifolds with edge singularities. This class of manifolds includes, and is modeled on, the product of a smooth manifold and a cone over a compact fiber. The main results of the article are a general diffractive theorem showing that the spreading of singularities at the edge only occurs along the fibers and a more refined geometric theorem showing that for appropriately regular (nonfocusing) solutions, the main singularities can only propagate along geometrically determined rays. This way, for the fundamental solution with initial pole sufficiently close to the edge, the authors show that the regularity of the diffracted front is greater than that of the incident wave.