Hamiltonian extension and eigenfunctions for a time dispersive dissipative string

Abstract

We carry out a detailed analysis of a time dispersive dissipative (TDD) string, using our recently developed conservative and Hamiltonian extensions of TDD systems. This analysis of the TDD string includes, in particular: (i) an explicit construction of its conservative Hamiltonian extension, consisting of the physical string coupled to "hidden strings;" (ii) explicit formulas for energy and momentum densities in the extended system, providing a transparent physical picture accounting precisely for the dispersion and dissipation; (iii) the eigenmodes for the extended string system, which provide an eigenmode expansion for solutions to the TDD wave equation governing the TDD string. In particular, we find that in an eigenmode for the extended system the displacement of the physical string does not satisfy the formal eigenvalue problem, but rather an equation with a source term resulting from the excitation of the hidden strings. The obtained results provide a solid basis for the rigorous treatment of the long standing problem of scattering by a TDD scatterer, illustrated here by the computation of scattering states for a string with dissipation restricted to a half line.