Abstract

It is shown with the help of an operational formulation of scattering processes (in linear media) that the Rytov approximation, although limited to weak scattering, contains all orders of single and multiple scatter, unlike the Born approximation, which neglects multiple scatter. This explains the often observed superiority of the former vis-à-vis the latter, when compared with empirical data. These results are quite general and apply to scattering from random interfaces as well as volumes, including combinations of surface and volume interactions. It is also noted that probability density functions (pdf’s) consisting of Gauss (or Rayleigh) scatter and non-Gaussian Class A components, under various conditions, sometimes involving intensity fluctuations, provide essentially exact pdf’s for all intensities and orders of multiple scatter. [IEEE J. Ocean. Eng. 24, 261 (1999); Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Theoretical and Computational Acoustics (World Scientific, Singapore, 1999), p. 679].

© 1999 Optical Society of America

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