Gaussian intensity in the first Rytov approximation Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
Let with unit-modulus incidence and . For a centered real Gaussian random field , the exponential moment of a Gaussian linear functional gives
Here is the autocorrelation function of a random field. Both the covariance and the generally nonzero term enter the exponent; dropping the latter is not justified for an arbitrary finite real random medium.
Use the leading far-field kernel from the previous part. Define
Then and, because the incident intensity is one,
To first order in weak contrast, . Its linearized part is a centered stationary Gaussian random field, with autocorrelation function of a random field . The exponential moment of a Gaussian linear functional therefore gives the usual Gaussian intensity in the first Rytov approximation:
Equivalently the exponent is . The second term generally matters because a finite real random medium need not generate a circular complex Gaussian amplitude.
If the full stated potential is retained, it is not Gaussian and has mean . To retain every term through order in the intensity of this first Rytov field, the cumulant expansion instead gives
Here ; the raw autocorrelation differs by . The stated remainder uses Gaussian finite-dimensional statistics of , for which odd total moments vanish. This mean term is absent if one first truncates the potential to . Both formulas concern the first Rytov approximation, and exponentiating it does not supply the omitted higher-order scattering corrections.