Abstract

Random caustics are a ubiquitous phenomenon of ray or particle propagation through weakly disordered media. They lead to a pronounced branching not only of the ray or particle flow density but also in the intensity of corresponding wave flows. In this talk I will present our results on the stochastic theory of random caustics, showing that the number of caustics generated by a random medium follows a universal law, and will discuss the impact of branching on the intensity statistics of wave flows.

© 2012 Optical Society of America