Decomposition of the time reversal operator for electromagnetic scattering

The method of decomposition of the time reversal operator has been introduc ed with the aim of focusing acoustic waves on a selected target. It is base d on the derivation of the invariants of the time reversal operator, which is linked to the transfer matrix of the array of transducers insonifying a time invariant scattering medium. The theoretical and numerical results con cern independent point-like scatterers. Here, we apply numerically the same technique to electromagnetic waves, and all the interactions between the v arious scatterers are taken into account. This method may be very useful to detect and localize buried objects. With this goal, we have investigated t he role of polarization and of the geometrical or electromagnetic parameter s, as well as the ability of accurately focusing on a scatterer. The sensit ivity of the results to the initial set of data, namely the number of measu rements or the accuracy, is also studied.