title: Super-resolution in time-reversal acoustics.
abstract: The phenomenon of super-resolution in time-reversal acoustics is analyzed theoretically and with numerical simulations. A signal that is recorded and then retransmitted by an array of transducers, propagates back though the medium, and refocuses approximately on the source that emitted it. In a homogeneous medium, the refocusing resolution of the time-reversed signal is limited by diffraction. When the medium has random inhomogeneities the resolution of the refocused signal can in some circumstances beat the diffraction limit. This is super-resolution. A theoretical treatment of this phenomenon is given, and numerical simulations which confirm the theory are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Stanford University, California 94305, USA. blomgren@math.stanford.edu
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blomgren
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Papanicolaou
authors.forename: Hongkai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013997:Time Factors; D014159:Transducers