Wave beam tremble within an absorbing random medium with lens properties

Abstract

The present paper investigates the joint influence of fluctuations of the complex dielectric constant, ϵ, of a medium and its lens properties on random displacements of a radiation beam. Based on a non-traditional approach, an expression is obtained for the variance of the beam energy centre tremble, σ² _ρ, taking into account the contribution of fluctuations of the real and imaginary parts of ϵ, as well as that of their correlations. It was shown that the influence of fluctuations of the imaginary part of ϵ is particularly pronounced in the initial section of the path, as well as in paths of great length. Due to regular refraction, a considerable enhancement of the dependence of σ² _ρ upon the path length occurs, with the greatest contribution being made by fluctuations of the imaginary part of the dielectric constant. A positive correlation of random changes of the real and imaginary parts of ϵ was shown to result in a partial compensation of the beam tremble.