Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/iii/paper-335/2/i/solution

Let be the scattering potential supported in . The background Helmholtz equation and its outgoing kernel give the scalar Lippmann-Schwinger equation
Replacing the unknown field in the integral by the incident field gives the Born approximation for scalar wave scattering:
For the Rytov approximation, work where and set . Dividing the wave equation by the total field and subtracting the incident equation gives
Neglect the quadratic gradient term. If , direct differentiation shows , so
Expanding the exponential in the potential gives . Thus both approximations have the same first-order field, although exponentiation retains a particular family of higher powers.

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