 Steadily moving antiplane shear

For subsonic motion $|V|<c$, an antiplane shear displacement $w(x_1-Vt,x_2)$ satisfies ${\beta }^2{w}_{xx}+w_{x_2{x}_2}=0$. The displayed rescaling makes it a harmonic function of $(x,y)$, so locally $w=\mathrm{Re}H(x+iy)$ for a holomorphic function $H$. Set $F=\beta H$. The Cauchy-Riemann equations then give $\mu F^{\prime }=\beta {\sigma }_{13}-i{\sigma }_{23}$. Keeping this potential normalization explicit avoids losing a factor of $\beta$ in the dynamic stress field. At sonic or supersonic speeds the elliptic harmonic reduction does not apply.