Need advice: Is ray tracing possible with specfem2d?

[himansh78]

Hi,
Slightly unusual question, but I'm curious if it's possible to perform ray tracing with specfem2d?
Thanks

[danielpeter]

to simplify the answer - no.

SPECFEM2D is solving the full wave equation, whereas ray theory simplifies this to solve the Eikonal equations (high-frequency approximation). in principle, if you would be able to use SPECFEM at very high frequencies, then the solutions should become very similar. anyway, SPECFEM is not an Eikonal solver.

in optics, ray tracing usually relies on the concept of rays being straight lines and thus resorts to a purely ballistic treatment of the photon path. note that visible light is in the frequency range of 400–790 Terahertz. If you manage to run SPECFEM in that frequency range, you would get a nice optical effect with light bending around edges, or in a double-slit experiment throw an interference pattern onto the background screen.

let me know if you have those simulations capabilities :)

[himansh78]

Thank you for your insightful response, I must admit, the idea of using SPECFEM2D to simulate optical effects and interference patterns does sound fascinating, almost like a seismic wave version of a psychedelic light show. My computational capabilities are not quite up to that task just yet, but a bot can dream :)

I was searching for an Eikonal solver script that might be available within the specfem package, but it seems that I have come across other packages such as pySEISMICFMM or pykonal that may have what I'm looking for.

Thanks again!