Physical Optics Solutions of Canonical Problems

This chapter shows how to apply the physical optics (PO) method to study electromagnetic scattering from electrically large bodies of simple shapes. It applies this method to infinite cones with variously shaped cross sections and derive approximations for the tip‐diffracted wave. The chapter shows that the PO solution for scattering from opaque plates can always be reduced to a line integral, and if the plate has the form of a polygon the PO integral simplifies even further to a sum of contributions from the tips of the polygon. It focuses on PO solutions for bodies of revolution, and also shows that the transformation to a one‐dimensional integral is possible for the incidence along the symmetry axis of the body. The axial backscattering from smoothly shaped pointed scatterers, like an ogive, is particularly weak, with the main contribution coming from the tip; a broad variety of tip diffraction coefficients.