An engineering-oriented introduction to wave propagation by an
award-winning MIT professor, with highly accessible expositions and
mathematical details--many classical but others not heretofore
published.
A wave is a traveling disturbance or oscillation--intentional or
unintentional--that usually transfers energy without a net displacement
of the medium in which the energy travels. Wave propagation is any of
the means by which a wave travels. This book offers an
engineering-oriented introduction to wave propagation that focuses on
wave propagation in one-dimensional models that are anchored by the
classical wave equation. The text is written in a style that is highly
accessible to undergraduates, featuring extended and repetitive
expositions and displaying and explaining mathematical and physical
details--many classical but others not heretofore published. The
formulations are devised to provide analytical foundations for studying
more advanced topics of wave propagation.
After a precalculus summary of rudimentary wave propagation and an
introduction of the classical wave equation, the book presents solutions
for the models of systems that are dimensionally infinite,
semi-infinite, and finite. Chapters typically begin with a vignette
based on some aspect of wave propagation, drawing on a diverse range of
topics. The book provides more than two hundred end-of-chapter problems
(supplying answers to most problems requiring a numerical result or
brief analytical expression). Appendixes cover equations of motion for
strings, rods, and circular shafts; shear beams; and electric
transmission lines.
