Paper detail

Derivation of a one-way radiative transfer equation in random media

We derive from first principles a one-way radiative transfer equation for the wave intensity resolved over directions (Wigner transform of the wave field) in random media. It is an initial value problem with excitation from a source which emits waves in a preferred, forward direction. The equation is derived in a regime with small random fluctuations of the wave speed but long distances of propagation with respect to the wavelength, so that cumulative scattering is significant. The correlation length of the medium and the scale of the support of the source are slightly larger than the wavelength, and the waves propagate in a wide cone with opening angle less than $180^o$, so that the backward and evanescent waves are negligible. The scattering regime is a bridge between that of radiative transfer, where the waves propagate in all directions and the paraxial regime, where the waves propagate in a narrow angular cone. We connect the one-way radiative transport equation with the equations satisfied by the Wigner transform of the wave field in these regimes.