Multiple scattering of sound

Abstract We present a topical review which summarizes the main contributions to ‘multiple scattering of acoustic and elastic waves’ including the most recent advances. The review is divided into five main parts. In the first part, the effects of multiple scattering on ultrasonic propagation are illustrated on the basis of three experimental examples. In the second and third parts, we present the two possible descriptions for the propagation of an acoustic wave in a random medium. The first one is based on the study of the coherent wave, i.e. the wave amplitude averaged over disorder, whereas the second one deals with the propagation of the incoherent intensity, i.e. the intensity averaged over disorder. We especially insist on the microscopic basis for the phenomenological radiative transfer equation and show how it can be solved in the diffusion approximation. The theory is illustrated with experimental results obtained on a two-dimensional multiple-scattering prototype made of thousands of steel rods randomly distributed and immersed in water. In the fourth part, we present experimental evidence that the diffusion equation fails in describing all the aspects of the propagation of an acoustic wave in a random medium: e.g. the coherent backscattering effect recently observed for ultrasonic waves. We show that this effect arises as a consequence of reciprocity. Finally, in the fifth part, we discuss another property which is not taken into account in the radiative transfer theory: the reversibility of an acoustic wave propagating in a disordered medium.