Distributional analysis of radiation conditions for the $3+1$ wave equation

Abstract

Consider the Cauchy problem for the ordinary 3+1 wave equation. Reduction of the spatial domain to a half-space involves an exact radiation boundary condition enforced on a planar boundary. This boundary condition is most easily formulated in terms of the tangential-Fourier and time-Laplace transform of the solution. Using the Schwartz theory of distributions, we examine two other formulations: (i) the nonlocal spacetime form and (ii) its three-dimensional (tangential/time) Fourier transform. The spacetime form features a convolution between two tempered distributions.