Solution to Exercises

From : A Breviary of Seismic Tomography, by Guust Nolet , 2008

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Exercise 2.1 Show that a pure rotation gives rise to Eij ≡ 0, i.e. no deformation.
(page 16)

Exercise 2.2 Show that p(t ) is a real signal if its Fourier transform P (ω) satisfies
P (ω) = P (−ω)∗ (page 19)

Exercise 2.3 In one dimension, (2.12) reduces to the wave equation for a string:

∂2 P ∂2P
c2 = . (2.19)
∂x 2 ∂t 2
Assume that the velocity c is constant. Use the chain rule of differentiation to show that
any differentiable function of the form

P (x, t ) = g(x − ct ) (2.20)

satisfies the wave equation for the string. Explain why, therefore, this equation is named
the ‘wave equation’. (page 19)
SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES, Page 1 of 2

2
Ray theory for seismic waves

Solution
Exercise 2.1 See Fig. B2.2†; let the angle of rotation be α. The change of ux
along y-direction is

∆ux = ux (x, y + dy) − ux (x, y) = −dy sin α − 0 = −dy sin α.

The change of uy along x-direction is

∆uy = uy (x + dx, y) − uy (x, y) = dx sin α − 0 = dx sin α.

Thus
∂ux ∆ux
= lim = − sin α, (2.1)
∂y dy→0 dy

∂uy ∆uy
= lim = sin α. (2.2)
∂x dx→0 dx

Adding (2.1) and (2.2) gives

∂ux ∂uy
+ = 0.
∂y ∂x
By definition of strain tensor, we have
 
1 ∂ux ∂uy
12 = xy = + = 0.
2 ∂y ∂x
The above proof can be repeated for all permutations of i, j = 1, 2, 3. Therefore a
pure rotation gives rise to ij ≡ 0.

† When numbers for figures or equations are preceded by a B they refer to figures/equations in A Breviary for
Seismic Tomography.

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 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES, Page 2 of 2

Ray theory for seismic waves 7

f(x−ct) (a) At time t 0

x
f(x−ct) (b) At time t0 + dt
dx=cdt

Fig. 2.1. Function f (x − ct) represents a propagating wave with velocity c in the +x
direction.

Solution
Exercise 2.2 The inverse Fourier transform gives
Z ∞
1
p(t) = P (ω)e−iωt dω.
2π −∞
Inserting the condition P (ω) = P (−ω)∗ , we get
Z ∞ Z ∞
1 ∗ −iωt 1
p(t) = P (−ω) e dω = − P (−ω)∗ e−iωt d(−ω).
2π −∞ 2π −∞
Let w = −ω, then
Z ∞
1
p(t) = P (w)∗ eiwt dw = p(t)∗ .
2π −∞

Hence p(t) is real.

Solution
Exercise 2.3 Applying the chain rule of differentiation to any differentiable func-
tion of the form f (x ± ct) yields
∂P ∂2P
= ±cf 0 , = c2 f 00 ,
∂t ∂t2

∂P ∂2P
= f 0, = f 00 , (2.3)
∂x ∂x2
where f 0 and f 00 are the first and second order derivatives with respect to the argu-
ment x − ct. Inserting (2.3) into (B2.19) we get c2 f 00 ≡ c2 f 00 .
To see that the solution describes propagating waves, imagine that at t = t0 , so that
f (x − ct) represents a wave as shown in Figure 2.1a. At t = t0 + dt,the argument
x − ct will remain unchanged if the distance x increases by dx = cdt, and thus the
shape of function f (x−ct) will remain the same (Figure 2.1b). Therefore, f (x−ct)
describes a wave propagating with velocity dx/dt = c in the +x direction.