A new representation for the dynamic green's tensor of an elastic half-space or layered medium

A method for inverting the transforms of the terms in generalized ray series representations for disturbances in layered media is presented. It differs from the Cagniard reduction in that the solution of algebraic equations depending upon position x and time t is not required. This step is, in effect, replaced by contour integration of relatively simple functions. The method is applicable to anisotropic layers but it simplifies when applied to isotropic layers, for which any term in the ray series is represented as a single contour integral, around a fixed contour, of the product of a function that embodies material properties and a simple explicit function of x and t. The ‘material function’ can be tabulated and used repeatedly when the integral is evaluated for a range of values of x and t, so that the procedure is computationally quite efficient. It is illustrated by a computation of Green's function for an isotropic half-space, either free or overlaid by a fluid. Wave-front singularities are obtained explicitly from the representation and are given in an appendix.