Phase Shift Errors Associated with the WKB Approximation

Abstract

A numerical technique is presented which yields an exact solution to the one dimensional scattering problem. The algorithm is used to compute phase shift error curves associated with the WKB approximation. A variety of scattering potentials are considered and cover cases for which the WKB solution varies from extremely good to poor. It is shown that some commonly assumed forms for ionospheric electron density profiles yield phase responses which are discontinuous functions of wavenumber. Implications of these results to the inverse scattering problem are discussed. Keywords: Wave Equation; and Numerical Methods.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 29, 1986
Accession Number
ADA173493

Entities

People

  • Abraham Schultz

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Availability
  • Classification
  • Coefficients
  • Discontinuities
  • Electron Density
  • Electrons
  • Equations
  • Frequency
  • Military Research
  • Phase Shift
  • Plane Waves
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Scattering
  • Schrodinger Equation
  • Wave Equations

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics