Sound propagation in a waveguide is greatly dependent on the acoustic properties of the boundaries. The effect of these properties can be described by a bottom reflection coefficient RB, and surface reflection coefficient RS. Two methods for estimating reflection coefficients are used in this research. The first, the ratio method, is based on the variations of the Green's function with depth utilizing the ratio of the wavenumber spectra at two depths. The second, the pole method, is based on the wavenumbers of the modal peaks in the spectrum at a particular depth. A method to invert for sound speed and density is also examined. Estimates of RB and RS based on synthetic data by the ratio method were very close to their predicted values, especially for higher frequencies and longer apertures. The pole method returned less precise estimates though with longer apertures, the estimates were better. Using experimental data, results of the pole method as well a geoacoustic inversion technique based on them were mixed. The ratio method was used to estimate RS based on the actual data and returned results close to the predicted phase of p. / by Alexander Conrad. / Vita. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Mak Ka Wai Charles. / Thesis submitted in: October 2001. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-91). / Text in English; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Mak Ka Wai Charles. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Overview of the Mathematical Framework --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- System of Interest --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Klein-Gordon equation --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- QNM boundary conditions --- p.12 / Chapter 1.3 --- Outline of This Thesis --- p.14 / Chapter 2 --- Green's Function --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1 --- "Formal Expression for G(x,y，w)" --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2 --- "Leaver's Series Solution: An Analytic Expression for g(r, w)" --- p.17 / Chapter 2.3 --- Location of the Cut --- p.22 / Chapter 2.4 --- "Jaffe's Series Solution: An Analytic Expression for f(r,w)" --- p.23 / Chapter 2.5 --- QNMs and Their Locations --- p.26 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Alternative definitions of QNM --- p.26 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Methods of searching for QNMs --- p.28 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- Locations of QNMs --- p.29 / Chapter 2.6 --- Green's Function and Eigenspectra --- p.30 / Chapter 3 --- Normalization Function: Analytical Treatment --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1 --- Definition and Properties --- p.34 / Chapter 3.2 --- Analytic Approximations for --- p.36 / Chapter 3.3 --- Polar Perturbations --- p.39 / Chapter 4 --- Normalization Function: Numerical Treatment --- p.42 / Chapter 4.1 --- "Numerical Algorithm for g(x,w)" --- p.42 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Method --- p.42 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Equation governing R(z) --- p.45 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- "Equations governing A(x, z) and B(x, z)" --- p.45 / Chapter 4.2 --- "Numerical Algorithm for g(x, ´ؤw)" --- p.49 / Chapter 4.3 --- Numerical Result of q(γ) --- p.50 / Chapter 4.4 --- Comparison of Numerical Result with Analytic Approximations --- p.56 / Chapter 5 --- "Branch Cut Strength of G(x, y, w)" --- p.58 / Chapter 5.1 --- "Relation between q(γ) and ΔG(x,y, ´ؤiγ)" --- p.58 / Chapter 5.2 --- Proof of the Power Law --- p.60 / Chapter 5.3 --- "Numerical Results for ΔG(x, y, ´ؤiγ)" --- p.63 / Chapter 5.4 --- Study of a Physically Important Limit --- p.65 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Limiting x and y --- p.65 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Poles on the unphysical sheet --- p.69 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Zerilli potential --- p.77 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.81 / Chapter A --- Tortoise Coordinate --- p.84 / Chapter B --- Solution of the Generalized Coulomb Wave Equation --- p.86 / Chapter C --- Derivation of (5.1) --- p.88 / Bibliography --- p.89

Deformation of a Gaussian beam is observed when it propagates through a plasma. Self-focusing of the beam may be observed when the intensity of the laser increases the index of refraction of plasma gas. Due to the difficulties in solving the nonlinear partial differential equation in Maxwell's wave equation, a numerical technique has been developed in favor of the traditional analytical method. Result of numerical solution shows consistency with the analytical method. This further suggests the validity of the numerical technique employed. A three dimensional graphics package was used to depict the numerical data obtained from the calculation. Plots from the data further show the deformation of the Gaussian beam as it propagates through the plasma gas.

A new wave-kinetic numerical method for the propagation of optical waves in weakly inhomogeneous media is discussed, and it is applied to several canonical problems: the propagation of beam and plane waves through a weak 3-D ( or 2-D ) Gaussian eddy. The numerical results are also compared to those from a Monte-Carlo simulation and the first Born approximation. Within the validity of the Liouville approximation, the Wigner distribution function ( WDF ) is conserved along the conventional ray trajectories, and, thus, by discretizing the input WDF with Gaussian beamlets, we can represent the output WDF as a sum of Gaussians, from which irradiance can be obtained by analytical integration of each Gaussian with respect to wavevector. Although each Gaussian beamlet propagates along a geometrical optics ray trajectory, it can correctly describe diffraction effects, and the propagation of optical waves through caustics or ray crossings. The numerical results agree well with either the Monte-Carlo method or the first Born approximation in regions where one or both of these are expected to be valid. / M.S.

The propagation of light beams in inhomogeneous dielectric media is considered. The derivation begins with first principles and remains general enough to include off-axis asymmetric multimode input beams in tapered lenslike media with spatial variations of gain or loss. The tapering of lenslike media leads to a number of important applications. A parabolic taper is proposed as a model for a heated axially stretched fiber taper, and beams in such media are fully characterized. Other models are proposed by the concatenation of a parabola with other taper functions.

The instabilities of shallow shear flows are analyzed to study exchanges processes across shear flows in inland and coastal waters, coastal and ocean currents, and winds across the thermal-and-moisture fronts. These shear flows observed in nature are driven by gravity and governed by the shallow water equations (SWE). A highly accurate, and robust, computational scheme has been developed to solve these SWE. Time integration of the SWE was carried out using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme. A third-order upwind bias finite difference approximation known as QUICK (Quadratic Upstream Interpolation of Convective Kinematics) was employed for the spatial discretization. The numerical oscillations were controlled using flux limiters for Total Variation Diminishing (TVD). Direct numerical simulations (DNS) were conducted for the base flow with the TANH velocity profile, and the base flow in the form of a jet with the SECH velocity profile. The depth across the base flows was selected for the' balance of the driving forces. In the rotating flow simulation, the Coriolis force in the lateral direction was perfectly in balance with the pressure gradient across the shear flow during the simulation. The development of instabilities in the shear flows was considered for a range of convective Froude number, friction number, and Rossby number. The DNS of the SWE has produced linear results that are consistent with classical stability analyses based on the normal mode approach, and new results that had not been determined by the classical method. The formation of eddies, and the generation of shocklets subsequent to the linear instabilities were computed as part of the DNS. Without modelling the small scales, the simulation was able to produce the correct turbulent spreading rate in agreement with the experimental observations. The simulations have identified radiation damping, in addition to friction damping, as a primary factor of influence on the instability of the shear flows admissible to waves. A convective Froude number correlated the energy lost due to radiation damping. The friction number determined the energy lost due to friction. A significant fraction of available energy produced by the shear flow is lost due the radiation of waves at high convective Froude number. This radiation of gravity waves in shallow gravity-stratified shear flow, and its dependence on the convective Froude number, is shown to be analogous to the Mach-number effect in compressible flow. Furthermore, and most significantly, is the discovery from the simulation the crucial role of the radiation damping in the development of shear flows in the rotating earth. Rings and eddies were produced by the rotating-flow simulations in a range of Rossby numbers, as they were observed in the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic, Jet Stream in the atmosphere, and various fronts across currents in coastal waters.

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Our knowledge of elastic wave propagation in general heterogeneous media with complex geological structures comes principally from numerical simulations. In this dissertation, I demonstrate through rigorous theoretical analyses and comprehensive numerical experiments that the Fourier method is a suitable method of choice for large scale 3D seismic modeling and imaging problems, due to its high accuracy and computational efficiency. The most attractive feature of the Fourier method is its ability to produce highly accurate solutions on relatively coarser grids, compared with other numerical methods for solving wave equations. To further advance the Fourier method, I identify two aspects of the method to focus on in this work, i.e., its implementation on modern clusters of computers and efficient high-order time stepping schemes. I propose two new parallel algorithms to improve the efficiency of the Fourier method on distributed memory systems using MPI. The first algorithm employs non-blocking all-to-all communications to optimize the conventional parallel Fourier modeling workflows by overlapping communication with computation. With a carefully designed communication-computation overlapping mechanism, a large amount of communication overhead can be concealed when implementing different kinds of wave equations. The second algorithm combines the advantages of both the Fourier method and the finite difference method by using convolutional high-order finite difference operators to evaluate the spatial derivatives in the decomposed direction. The high-order convolutional finite difference method guarantees a satisfactory accuracy and provides the flexibility of using non-blocking point-to-point communications for efficient interprocessor data exchange and the possibility of overlapping communication and computation. As a result, this hybrid method achieves an optimized balance between numerical accuracy and computational efficiency. To improve the overall accuracy of time domain Fourier simulations, I propose a family of new high-order time stepping schemes, based on a novel algorithm for designing time integration operators, to reduce temporal derivative discretization errors in a cost-effective fashion. I explore the pseudo-analytical method and propose high-order formulations to further improve its accuracy and ability to deal with spatial heterogeneities. I also extend the pseudo-analytical method to solve the variable-density acoustic and elastic wave equations. I thoroughly examine the finite difference method by conducting complete numerical dispersion and stability analyses. I comprehensively compare the finite difference method with the Fourier method and provide a series of detailed benchmarking tests of these two methods under a number of different simulation configurations. The Fourier method outperforms the finite difference method, in terms of both accuracy and efficiency, for both the theoretical studies and the numerical experiments, which provides solid evidence that the Fourier method is a superior scheme for large scale seismic modeling and imaging problems. / text