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On Rytov's Method
Author(s) -
Taylor Leonard S.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1002/rds196724437
Subject(s) - mathematics , huygens–fresnel principle , perturbation (astronomy) , mathematical analysis , physics , optics , quantum mechanics
Rytov's method (method of smooth perturbations) has been used extensively to solve problems involving wave propagation in turbulent media. The closure procedure employed in the Rytov theory is, however, questionable. In this paper the Rytov result is compared with the results of the perturbation theory of linear stochastic operators. It is shown that the Rytov method does not yield the field correct to first order in the pertur‐bation parameter, and it is concluded that the method is not generally valid beyond the limits of the Born (single‐scatter) approximation.