Scattering Theory for Diffraction Gratings

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

The scattering of acoustic and electromagnetic waves by periodic sur faces plays a role in many areas of applied physics and engineering. Opti cal diffraction gratings date from the nineteenth century and are still widely used by spectroscopists. More recently, diffraction gratings have been used as coupling devices for optical waveguides. Trains of surface waves on the oceans are natural diffraction gratings which influence the scattering of electromagnetic waves and underwater sound. Similarly, the surface of a crystal acts as a diffraction grating for the scattering of atomic beams. This list of natural and artificial diffraction gratings could easily be extended. The purpose of this monograph is to develop from first principles a theory of the scattering of acoustic and electromagnetic waves by periodic surfaces. In physical terms, the scattering of both time-harmonic and transient fields is analyzed. The corresponding mathematical model leads to the study of boundary value problems for the Helmholtz and d'Alembert wave equations in plane domains bounded by periodic curves. In the formal ism adopted here these problems are intimately related to the spectral analysis of the Laplace operator, acting in a Hilbert space of functions defined in the domain adjacent to the grating.