On the scattering of sound by two semi-infinite parallel staggered plates - I. Explicit matrix Wiener-Hopf factorization

Abstract
This paper discusses the two-dimensional scattering of sound waves by two semi-infinite rigid parallel plates. The plates are staggered, so that a line in the plane of the motion passing through both edges is not in general perpendicular to the plane of either plate. The problem is formulated as a matrix Wiener-Hopf functional equation, which exhibits the difficulty of a kernel containing exponentially growing elements. We show how this difficulty may be overcome by constructing an explicit product decomposition of the matrix kernel with both factors having algebraic behaviour at infinity. This factorization is written in terms of a single entire auxiliary function that has a simple infinite series representation. The Wiener-Hopf equation is solved for arbitrary incident wave fields and we derive an asymptotic expression for the field scattered to infinity; the latter includes the possibility of propagating modes in the region between the plates. In part II of this work we will evaluate our solution numerically and obtain some analytical estimates in a number of physically interesting limits.

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