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A NEW DERIVATION OF THE WAVEFRONT CURVATURE TRANSFORMATION AT AN INTERFACE BETWEEN TWO INHOMOGENEOUS MEDIA *
Author(s) -
URSIN B.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
geophysical prospecting
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.735
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1365-2478
pISSN - 0016-8025
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2478.1982.tb01327.x
Subject(s) - wavefront , curvature , transformation (genetics) , refraction , ray tracing (physics) , front (military) , optics , interface (matter) , physics , mathematical analysis , geometry , mathematics , mechanics , chemistry , biochemistry , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method , meteorology , gene
A bstract The principles for ray‐tracing and wavefront curvature calculations in a three‐dimensional medium are reviewed. A new derivation of the transformation of the wavefront curvature matrix at an interface between two inhomogeneous media is given. The derivation is based on a Taylor series expansion of the ray refraction equation at the interface between two inhomogeneous media, and only elementary geometric arguments are used. The wave‐front curvature transformation at the interface is obtained by neglecting all terms in the direction of the surface normal. With proper definition of the variables, the derivation is also valid for a reflected wave‐front. A simplified transformation rule is derived for a reflected wave of the same type as the incident wave.