We review a generalized version of the invariant imbedding theory of wave propagation, which has been developed by us recently, in various kinds of stratified media. The main idea of the method is to transform the boundary value problem of the original wave equation into an equivalent initial value problem of coupled ordinary differential equations. This allows an exact and very efficientnumerical calculation of the reflection and the transmission coefficients and of the wave functions inside inhomogeneous media. We demonstrate the advantages of the method over other theoretical methods by applying it to several interesting cases. In the first case, we apply the method to the propagation of electromagnetic waves in random dielectric media. Next, we give a short discussion of the application of our method to wave propagation in nonlinear inhomogeneous media. Finally, we discuss the generalization of the invariant imbedding method to cases where several coupled waves propagate in arbitrarily-inhomogeneous stratified media and apply it to electromagnetic wave propagation in layered chiral media.
展开▼
