Rayleigh distance Rayleigh distance Rayleigh distance in optics is the axial distance from a radiating aperture to a point at which the path difference between the axial ray and an edge ray is λ / 4. An approximation of the Rayleigh Distance is formula_1, in which Z is the Rayleigh distance, D is the aperture of radiation, λ the wavelength. This approximation can be derived as follows. Consider a right angled triangle with sides adjacent formula_2, opposite formula_3and hypotenuse formula_4. According to Pythagorean theorem, formula_5. Rearranging, and simplifying formula_6 The constant termformula_7 can be neglected. In antenna applications, the Rayleigh distance is
Acoustic wave equation include acoustic wave equations that incorporate fractional derivative terms, see also the acoustic attenuation article or the survey paper. The wave equation describing sound in one dimension (position formula_3) is where formula_1 is the acoustic pressure (the local deviation from the ambient pressure), and where formula_6 is the speed of sound. Provided that the speed formula_6 is a constant, not dependent on frequency (the dispersionless case), then the most general solution is where formula_9 and formula_10 are any two twice-differentiable functions. This may be pictured as the superposition of two waveforms of arbitrary profile, one (formula_9) travelling up the x-axis