Description of waves in inhomogeneous domains using Heun’s equation

Abstract

There are a number of model equations describing electromagnetic, acoustic or quantum waves in inhomogeneous domains and some of them are of the same type from the mathematical point of view. This isomorphism enables us to use a unified approach to solving the corresponding equations. In this paper, the inhomogeneity is represented by a trigonometric spatial distribution of a parameter determining the properties of an inhomogeneous domain. From the point of view of modeling, this trigonometric parameter function can be smoothly connected to neighboring constant-parameter regions. For this type of distribution, exact local solutions of the model equations are represented by the local Heun functions. As the interval for which the solution is sought includes two regular singular points. For this reason, a method is proposed which resolves this problem only based on the local Heun functions. Further, the transfer matrix for the considered inhomogeneous domain is determined by means of the proposed method. As an example of the applicability of the presented solutions the transmission coefficient is calculated for the locally periodic structure which is given by an array of asymmetric barriers.