Homogenization of dynamic laminates

This paper addresses the study of the homogenization problem associated with propagation of long wave disturbances in materials whose properties exhibit not only spacial but also temporal inhomogeneities (called dynamic materials). The study was initiated by Lurie in his pioneering work of 1997. Homogenization theory is employed to replace an equation with oscillating coefficients by a homogenized equation. Two typical examples of periodic homogenization are considered: the wave equation and Maxwell's system coefficients oscillating rapidly not only in space but also in time. Conditions that generate applicability of the homogenization procedure to dynamic materials composites are developed. In particular, we examine a cell problem for periodic composites as well as the laminate formulae. The effective tensors of rank-one laminates for one-dimensional wave equation and the full Maxwell's system are computed explicitly. We also note some dramatic differences between the hyperbolic and the elliptic cases.