Transient propagation in media with classical or power-law loss.

This paper addresses the problem of small-signal transient wave propagation in media whose absorption coefficient obeys power-law frequency dependence, i.e., alpha infinity omega n. Our approach makes use of previously derived relations between the absorption and dispersion based on the Kramers-Kronig relations. This, combined with a recently obtained solution to a causal convolution wave equation enable expressions to be obtained for one-dimensional transient propagation when n is in the range 0 < n < 3. For n = 2, corresponding to no dispersion, straightforward analytical expressions are obtained for a delta-function and a sinusoidal step function sources and these are shown to correspond to relations previously derived. For other values of n, the effects of dispersion are accounted for by using Fourier transforms. Examples are used to illustrate the results for normal and anomalous dispersive media and to examine the question as to the conditions under which the effects of dispersion should be accounted for, especially for wideband ultrasound pulses of the type used in B-mode tissue imaging. It is shown that the product of the attenuation and total propagation path can be used as a criterion for judging whether dispersion needs to be accounted for.