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Let $H$ be the measured wave scattering response> linear operator, with direct background propagation removed if present. Its time reversal operator is the positive operator $T=H^{\ast }H$. For a normalized emitted signal $h$,The maximizing signal is a right singular vector, equivalently an eigenvector of $T$ with its largest eigenvalue. This is a precise intensity statement independent of a scatterer model.

Under the Born approximation for scalar wave scattering, neglect interactions between point scatterers and writewhere $b_j$ is the receiver response to scatterer $j$, $c_j^{\ast }h$ is its illumination by the source array, and ${\alpha }_j$ is its scattering wave amplitude. Well-resolved point scatterers have approximately orthogonal vectors $b_j$ and $c_j$. In the ideal orthogonal limit,Thus the most reflective, geometrically weighted scatterer gives the largest eigenvalue, and its normalized steering vector $c_j/\Vert c_j\Vert$ gives the corresponding wave focusing signal. If illumination and reception factors are equal for all scatterers, this is precisely the scatterer with largest $|{\alpha }_j{|}^2$. Geometric size by itself is not the quantity being ranked.

Repeated adjoint time reversal acoustics is power iteration on $T$. If its top eigenvalue is simple and the initial signal has a nonzero component along its eigenvector, thenA tied largest eigenvalue leaves a combination in the leading eigenspace, and an initial signal orthogonal to that eigenspace cannot excite it. This is the basis of the DORT method. Mere physical separation is insufficient if the array cannot resolve the scatterers; coherent steering-vector overlap or multiple scattering can mix the modes. Also, if $H$ includes unrestricted homogeneous transmission, its largest eigenvalue need not identify any individual scatterer. The correspondence concerns the resolved wave scattering response>. The ideal correspondence and selective wave focusing are analyzed by Prada and Fink.

To first order in $n_{ϵ}$, replace $q$ by $2n_{ϵ}$ and use the known incident field in the outgoing integral. The Born approximation for scalar wave scattering givesBoth the $n_{ϵ}^2$ contrast term and the internal-field correction are second order for fixed geometry in the perturbative regime established in part i.

Specify the data space before taking an adjoint operator. For example, let $X=L^2(B)$ and $Y=L^2(\Gamma )$, where $\Gamma$ is a bounded measurement surface separated from $B$. Define the linear operatorFor bounded incident field this is a Hilbert-Schmidt operator, hence a compact operator. The equation is $A{n}_{ϵ}=y$, with $y={\psi }_s{|}_{\Gamma }$. Other sampling geometries give corresponding data spaces and weights; the paper does not specify one. Using the usual complex $L^2$ inner products, its adjoint operator isThe complex conjugations are required by the adjoint operator identity, not by wave reciprocity alone.

The Landweber iteration starts from $f_0=0$ and applies gradient descent to $\frac{1}{2}\Vert Af-y{\Vert }^2$:Each step back-propagates the data residual. The Landweber relaxation parameter controls stability, and early stopping of Landweber iteration prevents small singular values from amplifying measurement errors. For an explicitly real-valued index contrast, use the real Hilbert space structure and replace $A^{\ast }$ by $\mathrm{Re}{A}^{\ast }$ in this update. Additional sign or support constraints require corresponding projections; none are assumed here.

Use the physical refractive index convention $k=k_{0}n$, with $k_0$ the background wavenumber and time dependence $e^{-i\omega t}$. Treat $B$ as a bounded region in ${\mathbb{R}}^3$; the printed $B\in {\mathbb{R}}^3$ should be $B\subset {\mathbb{R}}^3$. Define the contrast $q=n^2-1=2n_{ϵ}+n_{ϵ}^2$ and the outgoing Green functionThe Sommerfeld radiation condition selects this sign of the outgoing wave phase. Since $(\Delta +k_0^2)\psi =-k_0^{2}q\psi$, the Lippmann-Schwinger equation isThe positive sign in this integral follows from the minus sign in the defining Green function equation. One may instead define the scattering potential with the opposite sign, provided both equations change consistently.

If $\Vert T_q\Vert <1$ on the chosen field space inside $B$, its Neumann series converges. The Born series for the scattered field isFor observation points outside $B$, restrict the intermediate factors to $B$ and use the same outgoing integral for the final factor. For example, the first two terms areThe $m$th term describes $m$ successive scattering interactions. The first Born approximation for scalar wave scattering keeps one interaction and replaces the field inside the medium by the incident field. Higher terms describe multiple scattering and the resulting feedback on the internal field.

A concrete sufficient condition follows on $L^{\infty }(B)$. If $d_B$ is the diameter of $B$, then for $\mathbf{r}\in B$ the region lies in the ball of radius $d_B$ about $\mathbf{r}$, andThus $\boxed{\rho \ll 1}$ is a conservative sufficient condition for the first Born approximation for scalar wave scattering. When $\rho <1$, the omitted internal-field terms satisfyThe bound ignores cancellation in the oscillatory Green function, so it is sufficient, not necessary. A common physical small-contrast criterion for an extended weak medium is small accumulated extra wave phase, $k_0\ell \Vert n_{ϵ}{\Vert }_{\infty }\ll 1$, together with weak scattering and no resonant internal enhancement. Small local contrast alone is not enough for an arbitrarily large or resonant object.

Let $V=k_0^2(n^2-1)$ be the scattering potential supported in $D$. The background Helmholtz equation and its outgoing kernel give the scalar Lippmann-Schwinger equationReplacing the unknown field in the integral by the incident field gives the Born approximation for scalar wave scattering:For the Rytov approximation, work where ${\psi }_i\ne 0$ and set $\psi ={\psi }_i{e}^{\varphi }$. Dividing the wave equation by the total field and subtracting the incident equation givesNeglect the quadratic gradient term. If ${\varphi }_1={\psi }_{s,B}/{\psi }_i$, direct differentiation shows $\Delta {\varphi }_1+2\nabla \log {\psi }_i\cdot \nabla {\varphi }_1=-V$, soExpanding the exponential in the potential gives ${\psi }_R={\psi }_i+{\psi }_{s,B}+O(V^2)={\psi }_B+O(V^2)$. Thus both approximations have the same first-order field, although exponentiation retains a particular family of higher powers.