C. P. Lee
T. G. Wang
Ctr. for Microgravity Res. and Applications, Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN 37235
Acoustic radiation pressure is an area in nonlinear acoustics that has been associated with a lot of confusion and controversy since the work by Lord Rayleigh. From the more recent works, it seems that all the pieces necessary for a complete understanding of this topic are there. The purpose of this work is to put the pieces together and systematically present a coherent picture of the subject, starting from the first principles. Self-consistency will be emphasized. Therefore, although the Eulerian coordinates will be used to formulate the problem, which will be shown to be very simple and straightforward, it will also be demonstrated how the same results can easily be obtained by using the more traditional Lagrangian coordinates, if the latter are applicable. It will be argued that it is simpler to define Rayleigh and Langevin radiation pressures according to whether the system is subjected to a constraint or not. [Work supported by NASA.]