This book is written for scientists and engineers whose work involves wave reflec tion or transmission. Most of the book is written in the language of electromagnetic theory, but, as the title suggests, many of the results can be applied to particle waves, specifically to those satisfying the Schr6dinger equation. The mathematical connection between electromagnetic s (or TE) waves and quantum particle waves is established in Chapter 1. The main results for s waves are translated into quantum mechanical language in the Appendix. There is also a close analogy between acoustic waves and electromagnetic p (or TM) waves, as shown in Section 1-4. Thus the book, though primarily intended for those working in optics, microwaves and radio, will be of use to physicists, chemists and electrical engineers studying reflection and transmission of particles at potential barriers. The tech niques developed here can also be used by those working in acoustics, ocean ography and seismology. Chapter 1 is recommended for all readers: it introduces reflection phenomena, defines the notation, and previews (in Section 1-6) the contents of the rest of the book. This preview will not be duplicated here. We note only that applied topics do appear: two examples are the important phenomenon of attenuated total reflection in Chapter 8, and the reflectivity of multilayer dielectric mirrors in Chapter 12. The subject matter is restricted to linear classical electrodynamics in non-magnetic media, and the corresponding particle analogues.

** This unique book treats an enormous amount of material clearly and elegantly. I believe that for many scientists and engineers it will become a standard and invaluable reference book. **'** **Australian Journal of Physhics** ** The volume is well worth having to those interested in the interaction of radiation with matter. '
Journal of the American Chemical Society, ****Vol.110, No.7,1988

Autorentext

John Lekner is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Victoria University of Wellington. He has a PhD from the University of Chicago, and has taught at Cambridge, where he was a Fellow of Emmanuel College. He has worked mainly in statistical physics, quantum mechanics and electrodynamics. He has published more than 140 papers, of which about 40 are reflection-related.

Inhalt

1. Introducing reflection.- 2. Exact results.- 3. Reflection of long waves.- 4. Variational theory.- 5. Equations for the reflection amplitudes.- 6. Reflection of short waves.- 7. Anisotropy.- 8. Absorption.- 9. Inverse problems.- 10. Pulses, finite beams.- 11. Rough surfaces.- 12. Matrix methods.- 13. Numerical methods.- Appendix. Reflection of particle waves.- A-1 General results.- A-2 Some exactly solvable profiles.- A-3 Perturbation and variational theories.- A-4 Long waves, integral invariants.- A-5 Riccati-type equations; the Rayleigh approximation.- A-6 Reflection of short waves.- A-7 Absorption, the optical potential.- A-8 Inversion of a model reflection amplitude.- A-9 Reflection of wavepackets.- Author index.