Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 13, 2026

Scholte wave

A Scholte wave is a surface wave propagating at an interface between a fluid and an elastic solid medium. The wave is of maximum intensity at the interface and decreases exponentially away from the interface into both the fluid and the solid medium. It is named after J. G. Scholte, who discovered it in 1947. This wave is similar to a Stoneley wave, which propagates at a solid-solid interface, and a Rayleigh wave, which propagates at a vacuum-solid interface.

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A Scholte wave is a surface wave (interface wave) propagating at an interface between a fluid and an elastic solid medium (such as an interface between water and sand).12 The wave is of maximum intensity at the interface and decreases exponentially away from the interface into both the fluid and the solid medium.3 It is named after J. G. Scholte, who discovered it in 1947.4 This wave is similar to a Stoneley wave, which propagates at a solid-solid interface, and a Rayleigh wave, which propagates at a vacuum-solid interface.

References

References

  1. Zhu, Jinying; Popovics, John S.; Schubert, Frank (2004). "Leaky Rayleigh and Scholte waves at the fluid–solid interface subjected to transient point loading". J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116 (2101): 2101. Bibcode:2004ASAJ..116.2101Z. doi:10.1121/1.1791718.
  2. http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/jam/2012/313207.pdf Rayleigh's, Stoneley's, and Scholte's Interface Waves in Elastic Models Using a Boundary Element Method, Esteban Flores-Mendez, Manuel Carbajal-Romero, Norberto Flores-Guzmán, Ricardo Sánchez-Martínez, Alejandro Rodríguez-Castellanos
  3. Nayfeh, Adnan H. (1995). Wave Propagation in Layered Anisotropic Media with Applications to Composites. p. 99.
  4. Scholte, J.G. (1947). "The range and existence of Rayleigh and Stoneley waves". Geophysical Journal International. 5: 120–126. Bibcode:1947GeoJ....5..120S. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.1947.tb00347.x.