Open AccessTHE NONLINEAR CAUSTIC
Author(s) -
Kin-Chung Ng
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
tamkang journal of mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.324
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 0049-2930
pISSN - 2073-9826
DOI - 10.5556/j.tkjm.22.1991.4624
Subject(s) - caustic (mathematics) , beam (structure) , nonlinear system , mathematics , boundary (topology) , boundary layer , airy beam , mathematical analysis , optics , physics , mechanics , quantum mechanics
In this paper the boundary layer at the nonlinear caustic is discussed and a nonlinear Airy equation is,obtained by adapting techniques from linear theory. It is shown that the incident beam undergoes a phase shift by an amount of $\pi/2$ as it passes through the caustic and becomes the outgoing beam.