Point Sources and Waves With Cylindrical Symmetry
While Lamb's analysis assumed a straight wavefront, it has been shown* that the same characteristic equations apply to axisymmetric plate waves (e.g. waves propagating with circular wavefronts from point sources, like ripples from a stone dropped into a pond). The difference is that whereas the "carrier" for the straight wavefront is a sinusoid, the "carrier" for the axisymmetric wave is a Bessel function. The Bessel function takes care of the singularity at the source, then converges towards sinusoidal behavior at great distances.
- Klaes, M, in Journées d'Etudes sur l'Emission Acoustique, INSA de Lyon (France), 1978.
Read more about this topic: Lamb Waves
Famous quotes containing the words point, sources, waves and/or symmetry:
““Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing,” answered Holmes thoughtfully. “It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different.””
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“The sources of poetry are in the spirit seeking completeness.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“He says the waves in the ship’s wake
are like stones rolling away.
I don’t see it that way.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“What makes a regiment of soldiers a more noble object of view than the same mass of mob? Their arms, their dresses, their banners, and the art and artificial symmetry of their position and movements.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)