Investigations of Near-Zone Doppler Effects

Citation

Prouty, Dale Austen (1982) Investigations of Near-Zone Doppler Effects. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/vfzj-7d74. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-09142006-111227

Abstract

Far away from an electromagnetic source the normal Doppler shifts in frequency occur – a red shift for receding and a blue shift for approaching. As indicated by previous work with an infinitesimal dipole, different frequency shifts occur when the source and observer move closer together, into the near-zone. These "near-zone Doppler effects" are investigated for general sources and subsequently two specific examples are presented.

The general results show that near-zone shifts are similar to far-zone shifts, but the local phase velocity must be used, i.e. ω' ≃ ω(1 ± (v/v_ph)). In the far zone the phase velocity is the speed of light; in the near zone it differs. Fundamentally, the distance between surfaces of constant phase in the near zone is changed. The surfaces of constant phase for the waves are no longer spherical, but more ellipsoidal or spheroidal, so that a moving observer sees a different frequency shift.

Two specific examples are presented to indicate the actual magnitude of near-zone effects. The examples include a prolate spheroidal antenna and a circular aperture.

Once the magnitude of the effects is determined, the measurability of near-zone Doppler effects is discussed. The investigation concentrates on Fresnel zone effects due to the measurement problem.

Finally, it is shown that for an electrically large wire antenna (the spheroidal example) near-zone Doppler effects are measurable.

Thesis Files