Causality and the velocity of acoustic signals in bubbly liquids.

Several versions of the dispersion formula governing the acoustic propagation in bubbly liquids are shown to exhibit acausal behavior. The cause of this behavior is due to the inappropriate application of a low frequency approximation in the determination of the extinction of the signal from radiative scattering. Using a corrected causal formula, several principles of wave propagation in bubbly media consistent with the general theory of wave propagation in dispersive media are demonstrated: There exist two precursors to any finite signal. Both propagate without regard to the source characteristics at velocities, frequencies, and amplitudes dependent wholly upon the characteristics of the medium supporting the wave motion. The first travels at the infinite frequency phase velocity that is coincident with the infinite frequency limit of the group velocity. That part of a propagating wave oscillating at the source frequency arrives at a time determined by the signal velocity. Analogous to the well known signal velocity of electromagnetic wave propagation in conducting media, the value of the signal velocity depends on the detailed structure of the dispersion formula in the complex frequency plane.