Wave splitting for first-order systems of equations

Systems of first-order partial differential equations are considered and the possible decomposition of the solutions in forward and backward propagating is investigated. After a review of a customary procedure in the space-time domain (wave splitting), attention is addressed to systems in the Fourier-transform domain, thus considering frequency-dependent functions of the space variable. The characterization is given for the direction of propagation and applications are developed to some cases of physical interest. Copyright © 2002 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.