Applied Math Seminar
Quarter 2001
3:15 - 4:15 p.m.
Sloan Mathematics Corner
Building 380, Room 380-C


Friday, October 19, 2001


Stanley Osher
University of California, Los Angeles

Geometric Optics in a Phase Space Based
Level Set and Eulerian Framework

Abstract:

(joint work with L.-T. Cheng, M. Kang, H. Shim and Y.-H. Tsai)

We introduce a level set approach for ray tracing and the construction of wavefronts in geometric optics. This is important in a wide variety of applications in wave propagation. Our approach automatically handles the multivalued solutions that appear and automatically resolves the wavefronts. This is achieved through solving for the bicharacteristic strips whose projections to standard space gives the wavefronts, in a reduced phase space under an Eulerian and partial differential equation based framework. The bicharacteristic strips are represented using a level set approach for handling higher codimensional objects and the PDE responsible for the evolution is a reduced form of the Liouville equation. Results for the 2 dimensional case for variable index of refraction are shown and compared to other methods. Results are also shown involving reflection and some 3 dimensional extensions

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