Theory of explosive beam spreading due to ray chaos.
In an ocean acoustic situation where rays are known to be chaotic, a theory based on a Gaussian beam approximation is used to show that the width of a narrow-angle beam increases exponentially (explosively) with range at a rate that is given by the Lyapunov exponent that is calculated in the geometric limit. This finite frequency result shows that the phenomenon of "wave chaos" is real, and might be observable experimentally.
Tappert
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Applied Marine Physics, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149, USA.
D000162:Acoustics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009792:Oceans and Seas