Fermat principle for a nonstationary medium

One possible formulation of a variational principle of the Fermat type for systems with time-dependent parameters is suggested. In a stationary case, it reduces to the Mopertui-Lagrange least-action principle. A class of Hamiltonians (dispersion relations) is indicated, for which the variational principle reduces to the Fermat principle in a general nonstationary case. Hamiltonians that are homogeneous functions of momenta are in this category. For the important case of nondispersive waves (corresponding to Hamiltonians being homogeneous function of momenta order 1) the Fermat principle fully determines the geometry of the rays. Equations relating the variation of signal frequency with the rate of change of propagation time are established.     

Microwave generation using a superluminal source

The power produced by existing sources of microwave radiation falls off with decreasing wavelength. To solve this problem a new concept is proposed for generating microwave radiation, based on the use of a superluminal source formed when electrons are emitted into vacuum from a medium and the emission front propagates along the surface with a speed greater than that of light. Such generators are shown to have a number of completely unique properties: they radiate extremely short pulses (as short as picoseconds); their power exceeds that of existing sources by orders of magnitude; and unlike existing sources, it increases as the wavelength is reduced. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 1689–1707 (May 1999)     

Emission of a spatially modulated resonant medium excited with superluminal velocity

Specific characteristics of the radiation of a resonant medium excited by an ultrashort light pulse propagating through the medium with a superluminal velocity are considered. The medium is assumed to consist of identical linear harmonic oscillators with a spatial density periodically modulated along the direction of propagation of the superluminal excitation. The field of radiation of the resonant medium under these conditions is calculated. It is shown that, under the superluminal excitation, the radiation spectrum of the medium shows, along with the fundamental frequency of the oscillators, new frequencies that depend on the spatial frequency of the distribution of oscillators and on the angle of observation. Possible application of the effect is discussed.     

Radiation of superluminal irregularities artificially created in the lower ionosphere

We present the results of numerical simulation and physical experiments to verify the possibility of generating a virtual superluminal VLF source by HF ionospheric heating with a scanning beam. The detection of VLF emission was carried out for the source created in two ways:

A model of superluminal neutrinos

Motivated by the tentative observation of superluminal neutrinos by the OPERA experiment, we present a model of active-sterile neutrino oscillations in which sterile neutrinos are superluminal and active neutrinos appear superluminal by virtue of neutrino mixing. The model demonstrates some interesting possibilities and challenges that apply to a large class of models aiming to explain the OPERA result.     

Emission of radiation by a resonance medium excited with a variable superluminal velocity

Specific properties of the radiation emitted by a spatially modulated resonance medium excited by an ultrashort light pulse propagating through the medium at a variable superluminal velocity are analyzed. In so doing, frequencies different from that of the resonance transition of the medium may appear in the emission spectrum. It is demonstrated that, in contrast to an earlier studied case of medium excitation at constant velocity, variation of the excitation velocity leads to generation of a spectral continuum, the boundaries of which are determined by the range of variation of the medium-excitation velocity.     

Radiative transfer in one-dimensional nonstationary fluctuating medium

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics -     

Transformation of radiation pulse in nonstationary conducting medium

The three-dimensional case of electromagnetic-field transformation as a result of permittivity and conductivity jumps is studied. Exact expressions for the field of an arbitrary vector source after a change in the electrodynamic parameters of the medium are obtained by a resolvent method. The space-time structure of this field is analyzed for a point source with an arbitrary dependence of current density on time. It is shown that a conductivity jump creates a continuous wave spectrum. A component appears in the transformed wave that does not have an analog in the case of a dielectric medium.Khar'kov State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 35, Nos. 3, 4, pp. 302–312, March–April, 1992.     

On the stability of acoustic waves propagating in a nonstationary moving medium

We analyze the stability of acoustic waves in a medium moving with a time-variable velocity. An instability criterion for these waves is obtained and analyzed for the weak modulation of medium velocity. The harmonics that emerge during the propagation under parametric resonance are shown to have an additional frequency shift.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 39, No. 9, pp. 1087–1090, September, 1996.This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research under Projects 95-02-05001 (G. I. Grigor'ev and V. V. Tamoikin) and 96-05-64277 (O. N. Savina).     

Radiation from a source near a jet

The problem examined is that of analysing the field of sound radiation caused due to the presence of a source in the immediate neighbourhood of a cylindrical jet in motion. The general analysis is restricted to low Mach number flow and special consideration is given to the high and low frequency limiting behaviour of the sound in the far field. The reflexion coefficient obtained in the high frequency case is exactly the same as that obtained by previous investigators for a source in the neighbourhood of an interface in relative motion [1, 2]. Also predicted here, however, is the existence of a “zone of excess attenuation” surrounding the jet fluid in motion, on both sides, far beyond the location of the acoustic source.     

Radiation transfer in a three-dimensionally inhomogeneous stochastic medium

Within the framework of a small-angle iteration method the propagation of radiation in a three-dimensionally inhomogenous stochastic scattering medium is considered. The results of the analysis show a significant dependence of the average light field on the statistical structure of scattering parameters of the medium. Deceased. Institute of Applied Optics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 11, Belynitskii-Birulya Str., Mogilev, 212793. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 234–240, March–April, 1999.