Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 76 / 2

Take the same $e^{-i\omega t}$ convention and an outgoing field. Define the scattering potential with the positive-contrast sign,The outgoing Green function for the three-dimensional Helmholtz equation isThus the Lippmann-Schwinger equation has a plus sign:Replacing the total field inside the integral by the incident field gives the Born approximation for scalar wave scatteringMore generally, iterating the integral equation gives the Born series ${\psi }_s={\sum }_{j\ge 1}{T}^j{\psi }_i$; its first term is the boxed expression. A sufficient convergence condition is $\Vert T\Vert <1$ on the chosen space of fields in $V$, and accurate single-scattering truncation needs the neglected terms to be small. Weak refractive contrast is useful, but for a sufficiently large or resonant scatterer it is not by itself a guarantee of negligible multiple scattering.

For $\mathbf{r}=R\hat{\mathbf{r}}$ with the observation distance much larger than the scatterer, expand $|\mathbf{r}-{\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }|=R-\hat{\mathbf{r}}\cdot {\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }+O(R^{-1})$. The far-field pattern in the Born approximation for scalar wave scattering is consequentlyThis convention includes the factor $1/(4\pi )$ in $f_{\infty }$; moving that factor into the outgoing-wave definition would change the pattern's normalization.

The absolute energy flux depends on what physical amplitude $\psi$ represents. For acoustic pressure in a homogeneous fluid of mass density ${\rho }_0$ and wave speed $c_0$, the momentum equation gives the particle-velocity amplitude $\mathbf{v}=\nabla \psi /(i{\rho }_0\omega )$. The time average of harmonic power and acoustic intensity then giveThe radial derivative of the outgoing factor is $(ik-1/R)e^{ikR}/R$. Its imaginary current is therefore $k|f_{\infty }{|}^2/R^2$ to leading order. The incident unit-amplitude plane wave has imaginary current $k{\hat{\mathbf{r}}}_0$. Hence, with $k=\omega /c_0$,The scattered energy flux points along $\hat{\mathbf{r}}$ at leading order, and the incident energy flux along ${\hat{\mathbf{r}}}_0$. If $\psi$ is a velocity-potential amplitude instead, both leading expressions use the common prefactor ${\rho }_0\omega k/2$ in place of $k/(2{\rho }_0\omega )$. A normalized scalar current uses $k$ as the common prefactor. The paper does not specify this amplitude normalization; the ratio in part (c) is independent of that choice.

Use the same physical normalization for both fields. Part (b) has $E_s=E_i|f_{\infty }^{(1)}{|}^2/R^2+O(R^{-3})$, so the common energy flux prefactor cancels. The differential cross-section for scalar wave scattering isThe far-field pattern has dimensions of length in this normalization, so the differential cross-section for scalar wave scattering has dimensions of area per unit solid angle. Only the scattered field is used in this ratio; interference between the incident and scattered fields is a different contribution to the total field's energy flux.

Let the medium's autocorrelation function of a random field and power spectrum use the explicit conventionSince $n^2-1=2\mu W+{\mu }^2{W}^2$, only the linear term in $\mu$ is needed to obtain the cross-section through second order:Squaring and taking the expectation givesThis is the finite-volume formula in the Born approximation for scalar wave scattering; the zero mean of $W$ does not make its squared scattered amplitude vanish. For a jointly centered Gaussian random field, the third-order contribution is zero, so the next perturbative contribution is fourth order when that expansion is valid.

Introduce the overlap volume $H_V(\mathbf{s})=|V\cap (V-\mathbf{s})|$. Changing variables rewrites the double integral asWhen the linear dimensions of a regular scattering volume are large compared with the correlation length, and $C$ is integrable, $H_V(\mathbf{s})\simeq |V|$ over the significant covariance range. This gives the finite-volume random scattering spectrum resultThere are two distinct approximations here: the weak-scattering expansion in $\mu$ and the negligible-boundary-overlap approximation in the volume-to-correlation-scale ratio. If $S$ instead denotes the power spectrum of the index fluctuation $n-1=\mu W$, then $S={\mu }^2{S}_W$ and the external factor ${\mu }^2$ is absorbed into $S$.

Statistical homogeneity alone allows an anisotropic spectrum, so its argument is generally the vector ${\mathbf{k}}_s$. If statistical isotropy is additionally assumed, $S_W$ depends only onThe scalar notation $S(k_s)$ is valid in that isotropic case. For the alternative convention $S_{\mathrm{norm}}=(2\pi {)}^{-3}{S}_W$, the bulk formula is $2\pi {\mu }^2{k}^4|V|S_{\mathrm{norm}}({\mathbf{k}}_s)$. Changing the sign of the scattering vector does not change the spectrum of a real stationary scalar field; changing the Fourier transform normalization does change the displayed $2\pi$ factors. Both conventions have therefore been stated explicitly.