LOW-FREQUENCY ACOUSTIC SCATTERING BY AN INHOMOGENEOUS MEDIUM

Abstract

This paper deals with the scattering of time-harmonic acoustic waves by inhomogeneous medium. We study the problem to recover the near and the far field using a priori information about the refractive index and the support of inhomogeneity. The incident spherical wave is modified in such a way as to recover the plane wave incidence when the source point approaches infinity. Applying the low-frequency expansions, the scattering medium problem is reduced to a sequence of potential problems for the approximation coefficients in the presence of a monopole singularity located at the source of incidence. Complete expansions for the integral representation formula in the near field as well as for the scattering amplitude in the far field are provided. The method is applied to the case of a spherical region of inhomogeneity and a radial dependent refractive index. As the point singularity tends to infinity, the relative results recover the scattering medium problem for plane wave incidence.