The Method of the Generalised Eikonal

The DeGruyter Studies in Mathematical Physics are devoted to the publication of monographs and high-level texts in mathematical physics. They cover topics and methods in fields of current interest, with an emphasis on didactical presentation. The series will enable readers to understand, apply and develop further, with sufficient rigor, mathematical methods to given problems in physics. For this reason, works with a few authors are preferred over edited volumes. The works in this series are aimed at advanced students and researchers in mathematical and theoretical physics. They also can serve as secondary reading for lectures and seminars at advanced levels.

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Diffraction theory describes scattering mechanisms for waves of various physical nature, scattered by objects of different shapes and materials. This book proposes new methods to account for the contour shape, edge profile and boundary conditions of three-dimensional scatterers (in particularly, flat polygons and polyhedrals). A standard method to refine the physical optics approximation (PO) is the heuristic method of edge waves (MEW). In comparison with MEW, the presented approaches simplify the solving and refining the PO approximation without solving a corresponding two-dimensional problem. Furthermore these methods allow to take into account the field perturbation in the vicinity of vertices. While the analytical formulas obtained by using these new approaches are as simple as in the PO case, the accuracy can be even higher than for MEW. On the basis of the developed methods construction of solutions for wave propagation in urban area and elastic wave diffraction (including seismic waves) are proposed. The book is useful for specialists who solve scientific and engineering problems in wave propagation and for students and postgraduate students.