Scattering of a scalar wave from a two-dimensional randomly rough Neumann surface

Abstract

We present a reciprocity and unitarity preserving formulation of the scattering of a scalar plane wave from a two-dimensional, randomly rough surface on which the Neumann boundary condition is satisfied. The theory is formulated on the basis of the Rayleigh hypothesis in terms of a single-particle Green's function G(q_‖|k_‖) for the surface electromagnetic waves that exist at the surface due to its roughness, where k_‖ and q_‖ are the projections on the mean scattering plane of the wave vectors of the incident and scattered waves, respectively. The specular scattering is expressed in terms of the average of this Green's function over the ensemble of realizations of the surface profile function (G(q_‖|k_‖)). The Dyson equation satisfied by (G(q_‖|k_‖)) is presented, and the properties of the solution are discussed, with particular attention to the proper self-energy in terms of which the averaged Green's function is expressed. The diffuse scattering is expressed in terms of the ensemble average of a two-particle Green's function, which is the product of two single-particle Green's functions. The Bethe-Salpeter equation satisfied by the averaged two-particle Green's function is presented, and properties of its solution are discussed. In the small roughness limit, and with the irreducible vertex function approximated by the sum of the contribution from the maximally-crossed diagrams, which represent the coherent interference between all time-reversed scattering sequences, the solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation predicts the presence of enhanced backscattering in the angular dependence of the intensity of the waves scattered diffusely.