Let the positive real material parameters depend on but not on time. Define the flux-normalized elastic characteristic amplitudes and logarithmic seismic impedance gradient
Write and . Then , , and direct substitution gives
For example, the first relation uses and ; the second uses . Adding and subtracting now proves
The original PDF has these two first-order equations. The TeX mistakenly combines them into ratios, which must not be used. A seismic impedance gradient couples forward and backward wave amplitudes even when the local wave speed is allowed to vary.