arXiv subjects

Liliana Borcea

Publications and source records attributed to Liliana Borcea.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Wave propagation in randomly perturbed weakly coupled waveguides

We present an analysis of wave propagation in a two step-index, parallel waveguide system. The goal is to quantify the effect of scattering at randomly perturbed interfaces between the guiding layers of high index of refraction and the host medium. The analysis is based on the expansion of the solution of the wave equation in a complete set of guided, radiation and evanescent modes with amplitudes that are random fields, due to scattering. We obtain a detailed characterization of these amplitudes and thus quantify the transfer of power between the two waveguides in terms of their separation distance. The results show that, no matter how small the fluctuations of the interfaces are, they have significant effect at sufficiently large distance of propagation, which manifests in two ways: The first effect is well known and consists of power leakage from the guided modes to the radiation ones. The second effect consists of blurring of the periodic transfer of power between the waveguides and the eventual equipartition of power. Its quantification is the main practical result of the paper.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

A direct approach to imaging in a waveguide with perturbed geometry

We introduce a direct, linear sampling approach to imaging in an acoustic waveguide with sound hard walls. The waveguide terminates at one end and has unknown geometry due to compactly supported wall deformations. The goal of imaging is to determine these deformations and to identify localized scatterers in the waveguide, using a remote array of sensors that emits time harmonic probing waves and records the echoes. We present a theoretical analysis of the imaging approach and illustrate its performance with numerical simulations.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

A ghost imaging modality in a random waveguide

We study the imaging of a penetrable scatterer, aka target, in a waveguide with randomly perturbed boundary. The target is located between a partially coherent source which transmits the wave, and a detector which measures the spatially integrated energy flux of the wave. The imaging is impeded by random boundary scattering effects that accumulate as the wave propagates. We consider a very large distance (range) between the target and the detector, where that cumulative scattering is so strong that it distributes the energy evenly among the components (modes) of the wave. Conventional imaging is impossible in this equipartition regime. Nevertheless, we show that the target can be located with a ghost imaging modality. This forms an image using the cross-correlation of the measured energy flux, integrated over the aperture of the detector, with the time and space resolved energy flux in a reference waveguide, at the search range. We consider two reference waveguides: The waveguide with unperturbed boundary, in which we can calculate the energy flux, and the actual random waveguide, before the presence of the target, in which the energy flux should be measured. We analyze the ghost imaging modality from first principles and show that it can be efficient in a random waveguide geometry in which there is both strong modal dispersion and mode coupling induced by scattering, provided that the standard ghost imaging function is modified and integrated over a suitable time offset window in order to compensate for dispersion and diffusion. The analysis quantifies the resolution of the image in terms of the source and detector aperture, the range offset between the source and the target, and the duration of the measurements.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

Wave propagation and imaging in moving random media

We present a study of sound wave propagation in a time dependent random medium and an application to imaging. The medium is modeled by small temporal and spatial random fluctuations in the wave speed and density, and it moves due to an ambient flow. We develop a transport theory for the energy density of the waves, in a forward scattering regime, within a cone (beam) of propagation with small opening angle. We apply the transport theory to the inverse problem of estimating a stationary wave source from measurements at a remote array of receivers. The estimation requires knowledge of the mean velocity of the ambient flow and the second-order statistics of the random medium. If these are not known, we show how they may be estimated from additional measurements gathered at the array, using a few known sources. We also show how the transport theory can be used to estimate the mean velocity of the medium. If the array has large aperture and the scattering in the random medium is strong, this estimate does not depend on the knowledge of the statistics of the random medium.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

Robust nonlinear processing of active array data in inverse scattering via truncated reduced order models

We introduce a novel algorithm for nonlinear processing of data gathered by an active array of sensors which probes a medium with pulses and measures the resulting waves. The algorithm is motivated by the application of array imaging. We describe it for a generic hyperbolic system that applies to acoustic, electromagnetic or elastic waves in a scattering medium modeled by an unknown coefficient called the reflectivity. The goal of imaging is to invert the nonlinear mapping from the reflectivity to the array data. Many existing imaging methodologies ignore the nonlinearity i.e., operate under the assumption that the Born (single scattering) approximation is accurate. This leads to image artifacts when multiple scattering is significant. Our algorithm seeks to transform the array data to those corresponding to the Born approximation, so it can be used as a pre-processing step for any linear inversion method. The nonlinear data transformation algorithm is based on a reduced order model defined by a proxy wave propagator operator that has four important properties. First, it is data driven, meaning that it is constructed from the data alone, with no knowledge of the medium. Second, it can be factorized in two operators that have an approximately affine dependence on the unknown reflectivity. This allows the computation of the Fréchet derivative of the reflectivity to the data mapping which gives the Born approximation. Third, the algorithm involves regularization which balances numerical stability and data fitting with accuracy of the order of the standard deviation of additive data noise. Fourth, the algebraic nature of the algorithm makes it applicable to scalar (acoustic) and vectorial (elastic, electromagnetic) wave data without any specific modifications.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

Passive array imaging in random media

We present a novel algorithm for high resolution coherent imaging of sound sources in random scattering media using time resolved measurements of the acoustic pressure at an array of receivers. The sound waves travel a long distance between the sources and receivers so that they are significantly affected by scattering in the random medium. We model the scattering effects by large random wavefront distortions, but the results extend to stronger effects, as long as the waves retain some coherence i.e., before the onset of wave diffusion. It is known that scattering in random media can be mitigated in imaging using coherent interferometry (CINT). This method introduces a statistical stabilization in the image formation, at the cost of image blur. We show how to modify the CINT method in order to image wave sources that are too close to each other to be distinguished by CINT alone. We introduce the algorithm from first principles and demonstrate its performance with numerical simulations.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

A Multiple Measurement Vector Approach To Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging

We study a multiple measurement vector (MMV) approach to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging of scenes with direction dependent reflectivity and with polarization diverse measurements. The data are gathered by a moving transmit- receive platform which probes the imaging scene with signals and records the backscattered waves. The unknown reflectivity is represented by a matrix with row support corresponding to the location of the scatterers in the scene, and columns corresponding to measurements gathered from different sub-apertures, or different polarization of the waves. The MMV methodology is used to estimate the reflectivity matrix by inverting in an appropriate sense the linear system of equations that models the SAR data. We obtain a resolution analysis of SAR imaging with MMV, which takes into account the sparsity of the imaging scene, the separation of the scatterers and the diversity of the measurements. The results of the analysis are illustrated with some numerical simulations.

math.OC↗

arXiv2017

Untangling the nonlinearity in inverse scattering with data-driven reduced order models

The motivation of this work is an inverse problem for the acoustic wave equation, where an array of sensors probes an unknown medium with pulses and measures the scattered waves. The goal of the inversion is to determine from these measurements the structure of the scattering medium, modeled by a spatially varying acoustic impedance function. Many inversion algorithms assume that the mapping from the unknown impedance to the scattered waves is approximately linear. The linearization, known as the Born approximation, is not accurate in strongly scattering media, where the waves undergo multiple reflections before they reach the sensors in the array. Thus, the reconstructions of the impedance have numerous artifacts. The main result of the paper is a novel, linear-algebraic algorithm that uses a reduced order model (ROM) to map the data to those corresponding to the single scattering (Born) model. The ROM construction is based only on the measurements at the sensors in the array. The ROM is a proxy for the wave propagator operator, that propagates the wave in the unknown medium over the duration of the time sampling interval. The output of the algorithm can be input into any off-the-shelf inversion software that incorporates state of the art linear inversion algorithms to reconstruct the unknown acoustic impedance.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

Laser beam imaging from the speckle pattern of the off-axis scattered intensity

We study the inverse problem of localization (imaging) of a laser beam from measurements of the intensity of light scattered off-axis by a Poisson cloud of small particles. Starting from the wave equation, we analyze the microscopic coherence of the scattered intensity and show that it is possible to determine the laser beam from the speckle pattern captured by a group of CCD cameras. Two groups of cameras are sufficient when the particles are either small or large with respect to the wavelength. For general particle sizes the accuracy of the laser localization with two groups of cameras is subject to knowing the scattering properties of the cloud. However, three or more groups of cameras allow accurate localization that is robust to uncertainty of the type, size, shape and concentration of the particles in the cloud. We introduce a novel laser beam localization algorithm and give some numerical illustrations in a regime relevant to the application of imaging high energy lasers in a maritime atmosphere.

physics.data-an↗

arXiv2017

Transport of power in random waveguides with turning points

We present a mathematical theory of time-harmonic wave propagation and reflection in a two-dimensional random acoustic waveguide with sound soft boundary and turning points. The boundary has small fluctuations on the scale of the wavelength, modeled as random. The waveguide supports multiple propagating modes. The number of these modes changes due to slow variations of the waveguide cross-section. The changes occur at turning points, where waves transition from propagating to evanescent or the other way around. We consider a regime where scattering at the random boundary has significant effect on the wave traveling from one turning point to another. This effect is described by the coupling of its components, the modes. We derive the mode coupling theory from first principles, and quantify the randomization of the wave and the transport and reflection of power in the waveguide. We show in particular that scattering at the random boundary may increase or decrease the net power transmitted through the waveguide depending on the source.

math.AP↗

arXiv2016

Second-Harmonic Imaging in Random Media

We consider the problem of optical imaging of small nonlinear scatterers in random media. We propose an extension of coherent interferometric imaging (CINT) that applies to scatterers that emit second-harmonic light. We compare this method to a nonlinear version of migration imaging and find that the images obtained by CINT are more robust to statistical fluctuations. This finding is supported by a resolution analysis that is carried out in the setting of geometrical optics in random media. It is also consistent with numerical simulations for which the assumptions of the geometrical optics model do not hold.

math.NA↗

arXiv2016

Pulse reflection in a random waveguide with a turning point

We present an analysis of wave propagation and reflection in an acoustic waveguide with random sound soft boundary and a turning point. The waveguide has slowly bending axis and variable cross section. The variation consists of a slow and monotone change of the width of the waveguide and small and rapid fluctuations of the boundary, on the scale of the wavelength. These fluctuations are modeled as random. The turning point is many wavelengths away from the source, which emits a pulse that propagates toward the turning point, where it is reflected. To focus attention on this reflection, we assume that the waveguide supports a single propagating mode from the source to the turning point, beyond which all the waves are evanescent. We consider a scaling regime where scattering at the random boundary has a significant effect on the reflected pulse. In this regime scattering from the random boundary away from the turning point is negligible, while scattering from the random boundary around the turning point results in a strong, deterministic pulse deformation. The reflected pulse shape is not the same as the emitted one. It is damped, due to scattering at the boundary, and is deformed by dispersion in the waveguide. The reflected pulse also carries a random phase.

math.AP↗

arXiv2016

Imaging in random media with convex optimization

We study an inverse problem for the wave equation where localized wave sources in random scattering media are to be determined from time resolved measurements of the waves at an array of receivers. The sources are far from the array, so the measurements are affected by cumulative scattering in the medium, but they are not further than a transport mean free path, which is the length scale characteristic of the onset of wave diffusion that prohibits coherent imaging. The inversion is based on the Coherent Interferometric (CINT) imaging method which mitigates the scattering effects by introducing an appropriate smoothing operation in the image formation. This smoothing stabilizes statistically the images, at the expense of their resolution. We complement the CINT method with a convex ($l_1$) optimization in order to improve the source localization and obtain quantitative estimates of the source intensities. We analyze the method in a regime where scattering can be modeled by large random wavefront distortions, and quantify the accuracy of the inversion in terms of the spatial separation of individual sources or clusters of sources. The theoretical predictions are demonstrated with numerical simulations.

math-ph↗

arXiv2016

Time and direction of arrival detection and filtering for imaging in strongly scattering random media

We study detection and imaging of small reflectors in heavy clutter, using an array of transducers that emits and receives sound waves. Heavy clutter means that multiple scattering of the waves in the heterogeneous host medium is strong and overwhelms the arrivals from the small reflectors. Building on the adaptive time-frequency filter of [1], we propose a robust method for detecting the direction of arrival of the direct echoes from the small reflectors, and suppressing the unwanted clutter backscatter. This improves the resolution of imaging. We illustrate the performance of the method with realistic numerical simulations in a non-destructive testing setup.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2016

Robust imaging with electromagnetic waves in noisy environments

We study imaging with an array of sensors that probes a medium with single frequency electromagnetic waves and records the scattered electric field. The medium is known and homogenous except for some small and penetrable inclusions. The goal of inversion is to locate and characterize these inclusions from the data collected by the array, which are corrupted by additive noise. We use results from random matrix theory to obtain a robust inversion method. We assess its performance with numerical simulations and quantify the benefit of measuring more than one component of the scattered electric field.

math.AP↗

arXiv2016

A discrete Liouville identity for numerical reconstruction of Schrödinger potentials

We propose a discrete approach for solving an inverse problem for Schrödinger's equation in two dimensions, where the unknown potential is to be determined from boundary measurements of the Dirichlet to Neumann map. For absorptive potentials, and in the continuum, it is known that by using the Liouville identity we obtain an inverse conductivity problem. Its discrete analogue is to find a resistor network that matches the measurements, and is well understood. Here we show how to use a discrete Liouville identity to transform its solution to that of Schrödinger's problem. The discrete Schrödinger potential given by the discrete Liouville identity can be used to reconstruct the potential in the continuum in two ways. First, we can obtain a direct but coarse reconstruction by interpreting the values of the discrete Schrödinger potential as averages of the continuum Schrödinger potential on a special sensitivity grid. Second, the discrete Schrödinger potential may be used to reformulate the conventional nonlinear output least squares optimization formulation of the inverse Schrödinger problem. Instead of minimizing the boundary measurement misfit, we minimize the misfit between the discrete Schrödinger potentials. This results in a better behaved optimization problem that converges in a single Gauss-Newton iteration, and gives good quality reconstructions of the potential, as illustrated by the numerical results.

math.NA↗

arXiv2016

Pulse propagation in time dependent randomly layered media

We study cumulative scattering effects on wave front propagation in time dependent randomly layered media. It is well known that the wave front has a deterministic characterization in time independent media, aside from a small random shift in the travel time. That is, the pulse shape is predictable, but faded and smeared as described mathematically by a convolution kernel determined by the autocorrelation of the random fluctuations of the wave speed. The main result of this paper is the extension of the pulse stabilization results to time dependent randomly layered media. When the media change slowly, on time scales that are longer than the pulse width and the time it takes the waves to traverse a correlation length, the pulse is not affected by the time fluctuations. In rapidly changing media, where these time scales are similar, both the pulse shape and the random component of the arrival time are affected by the statistics of the time fluctuations of the wave speed. We obtain an integral equation for the wave front, that is more complicated than in time independent media, and cannot be solved analytically, in general. We also give examples of media where the equation simplifies, and the wave front can be analyzed explicitly. We illustrate with these examples how the time fluctuations feed energy into the pulse.

math.AP↗

arXiv2016

Synthetic Aperture Imaging of Direction and Frequency Dependent Reflectivities

We introduce a synthetic aperture imaging framework that takes into consideration directional dependence of the reflectivity that is to be imaged, as well as its frequency dependence. We use an $\ell_1$ minimization approach that is coordinated with data segmentation so as to fuse information from multiple sub-apertures and frequency sub-bands. We analyze this approach from first principles and assess its performance with numerical simulations in an X-band radar regime.

math.OC↗