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Multiple wave scattering by quasiperiodic structures

Understanding the phenomenon of wave scattering by random media is a ubiquitous problem that has instigated extensive research in the field. This thesis focuses on wave scattering by quasiperiodic media as an alternative approach to provide insight into the effects of structural aperiodicity on the propagation of the waves. Quasiperiodic structures are aperiodic yet ordered so have attributes that make them beneficial to explore. Quasiperiodic lattices are also used to model the atomic structures of quasicrystals; materials that have been found to have a multitude of applications due to their unusual characteristics. The research in this thesis is motivated by both the mathematical and physical benefits of quasiperiodic structures and aims to bring together the two important and distinct fields of research: waves in heterogeneous media and quasiperiodic lattices. A review of the past literature in the area has highlighted research that would be beneficial to the applied mathematics community. Thus, particular attention is paid towards developing rigorous mathematical algorithms for the construction of several quasiperiodic lattices of interest and further investigation is made into the development of periodic structures that can be used to model quasiperiodic media. By employing established methods in multiple scattering new techniques are developed to predict and approximate wave propagation through finite and infinite arrays of isotropic scatterers with quasiperiodic distributions. Recursive formulae are derived that can be used to calculate rapidly the propagation through one- and two-dimensional arrays with a one-dimensional Fibonacci chain distribution. These formulae are applied, in addition to existing tools for two-dimensional multiple scattering, to form comparisons between the propagation in one- and two-dimensional quasiperiodic structures and their periodic approximations. The quasiperiodic distributions under consideration are governed by the Fibonacci, the square Fibonacci and the Penrose lattices. Finally, novel formulae are derived that allow the calculation of Bloch-type waves, and their properties, in infinite periodic structures that can approximate the properties of waves in large, or infinite, quasiperiodic media.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:618040
Date January 2014
CreatorsVoisey, Ruth
PublisherUniversity of Manchester
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttps://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/multiple-wave-scattering-by-quasiperiodic-structures(1c366ad1-443a-4667-9d03-db77487ab1d1).html

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