| Abstract: | The notion of the effective index of refraction in a one-dimensional randomly inhomogeneous medium is introduced based on the generalized eikonal equation. This physical quantity furnishes an unambiguous definition of the wave field propagating under prescribed boundary conditions in the medium considered. Within the framework of a Markovian diffusion approximation, the one-point probability density of the averaged effective index of refraction is found as well as a number of its statistical properties, namely, the mean value and its fluctuation variance. The applicability range of the results obtained is discussed for random inhomogeneities with a finite correlation radius.Moscow State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 914–927, September, 1993. |
