Wave Propagation In A Random Medium | L. A. Chernov

Together with V. I. Tatarski’s Wave Propagation in a Turbulent Medium (Dover, $3.25) , this book furnishes a comprehensive arid authoritative sur­

vey of the present state of research in the field of wave propagation. Such a survey has been made urgent by recent problems in acoustics, optics, and radiophysics (i.e. twinkling of stars, the difficulty of locating submarines, the capriciousness of atmospheric transmission of distant noise, etc.) . Like T atarski’s book, this volume makes available in English the results of recent Russian investigations.

The first part of the book studies the problem of wave propagation using the ray approximation (statistical characteristics of the medium, ray statistics). Part II deals with the diffraction theory of wave propagation, the wave equa­ tion, scattering by inhomogeneities, fluctuations, correlation of fluctuations) . Part III examines the question of how fluctuations in the incident wave affect the diffraction image formed by a focusing system (general formulas, the mean distribution near the focus, fluctuations behind the lens) . Throughout the book, some theoretical deductions are compared with the experimental data, but the most involved calculations are relegated to appendices.

Because of its reliance upon research not easily available in English, this book is invaluable to specialists in radiophysics and atmospheric acoustics and optics. 13 figures and 61 bibliographical references are helpful extras.