Scattering theory for perturbed stratified media

We study the operatorH = -c ² x,y)Μx,y)∇ · Μ ^-1 (x,y)∇, wherec andΜ are perturbations of functionsc ₀(y) andΜ ₀(y) which depend only on the one-dimensional variabley. In particular, we study the spatial asymptotics of lim_ε↺0(H - (λ +iε)²)^-1 applied to functions which have compact support or are otherwise well-behaved at infinity and relate the scattering matrix to the asymptotics of the generalized eigenfunctions. We then prove a trace formula for the operatorH in terms of the scattering phase, and, in a very special situation, use the trace formula to find spectral asymptotics forH. Partially supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship and the University of Missouri Research Board.