Diffuse fields in open systems and the emergence of the Green's function (L)

A definition of a diffuse field applicable to open heterogeneous systems is proposed. The identity between the Green's function of the structure and the diffuse field's correlations is proved. The Green's function that emerges from the correlation is found to be the full Green's function of the medium, symmetrized in time, with all reflections and scatterings and propagation modes. This is in contrast to suggestions that the correlation is the ballistic Green's function only, or the Green's function of a homogeneous effective medium. (C) 2004 Acoustical Society of America.