Disorder helps to 'hyperfocus' waves in time reversal acoustics

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Using this phononic crystal physicists found that a medium with an orderly lattice arrangement exhibits better time compression (the signal recorded at the original source) than a disordered medium in time-reversed evanescent sound waves. Better time ...
Using this phononic crystal, physicists found that a medium with an orderly lattice arrangement exhibits better time compression (the signal recorded at the original source) than a disordered medium in time-reversed evanescent sound waves. Better time compression gives a closer approximation of the initial sound. Credit: A. Tourin, et al.

For every burst of sound, there must exist a sound that bursts in reverse, according to the theory of time reversal acoustics. From their discoveries of some surprising characteristics of mediums and frequencies, scientists have gained insight into acoustic time reversal, which could impact applications such as sending confidential messages in cryptography.


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