Earthquake Science 37 (2024) 13–35

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Earthquake Science
Journal homepage: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/earthquake-science/

Article

On the eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of the critical

mode in horizontally layered media
Shaotong Wang and Laiyu Lu*

The Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100081, China

Key points:
• The singularity of critical modes in a horizontally layered medium is investigated when the phase velocity at certain
frequency of a mode is equal to the velocity of the P or S wave in a layer.
• A method for calculating the eigendisplacements of these critical modes in the classical transfer matrix method is
proposed.
• It is found that the eigendisplacement of the critical mode whose phase velocity equal to S velocity in the bottom half-
space remains constant in the bottom half-space, instead of decaying to zero with depth as normal modes.
• An SH critical mode (Love mode) exists in a uniform half-space model with a phase velocity equal to the S velocity,
which is similar to the classical Rayleigh mode of P-SV type in the uniform half-space, but the eigenfunction remains
constant with depth.

A B S T R A C T

Wave propagation in horizontally layered media is a classical problem in seismic-wave theory. In semi-infinite space, a
nondispersive Rayleigh wave mode exists, and the eigendisplacement decays exponentially with depth. In a layered model with
increasing layer velocity, the phase velocity of the Rayleigh wave varies between the S-wave velocity of the bottom half-space
and that of the classical Rayleigh wave propagated in a supposed half-space formed by the parameters of the top layer. If the
phase velocity is the same as the P- or S-wave velocity of the layer, which is called the critical mode or critical phase velocity of
surface waves, the general solution of the wave equation is not a homogeneous (expressed by trigonometric functions) or
inhomogeneous (expressed by exponential functions) plane wave, but one whose amplitude changes linearly with depth
(expressed by a linear function). Theories based on a general solution containing only trigonometric or exponential functions do
not apply to the critical mode, owing to the singularity at the critical phase velocity. In this study, based on the classical
framework of generalized reflection and transmission coefficients, the propagation of surface waves in horizontally layered
media was studied by introducing a solution for the linear function at the critical phase velocity. Therefore, the eigenvalues and
eigenfunctions of the critical mode can be calculated by solving a singular problem. The eigendisplacement characteristics
associated with the critical phase velocity were investigated for different layered models. In contrast to the normal mode, the
eigendisplacement associated with the critical phase velocity exhibits different characteristics. If the phase velocity is equal to

* Corresponding author. Lu LY, email: laiyulu@cea-igp.ac.cn

Article history:
Received 31 May 2023
Production and Hosting by Elsevier on behalf of KeAI
Received in revised form 12 July 2023
Accepted 31 July 2023
© 2024 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf Available online 25 September 2023
of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access
article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/4.0). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eqs.2023.11.005
14 Wang ST and Lu LY Earthquake Science 37 (2024)

the S-wave velocity in the bottom half-space, the eigendisplacement remains constant with increasing depth.

Keywords: dispersion curve; eigenvalue; generalized reflection and transmission coefficient; surface wave; guide wave

Citation: Wang ST and Lu LY (2024). On the eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of the critical mode in horizontally layered media.
Earthq Sci 37(1): 13–35, doi: 10.1016/j.eqs.2023.11.005.

1. Introduction 2022). The inversion of multimode surface waves can

Normal mode is an important concept in seismic wave
propagation in the Earth (Lapwood and Usami, 1981; Aki
and Richards, 2002; Dahlen and Tromp, 1998). For a
spherical Earth treated as a finite body, the normal modes
describing its fundamental vibration are its free
oscillations, forming a complete set of orthogonal
functions. By summing these normal modes, it is possible
to simulate complete theoretical seismograms (Gilbert,
1971; Maupin, 1996; Yang HY et al., 2010). At regional or
local scales, the Earth can be approximated as a
horizontally layered model. Body waves excited by
seismic sources generate multiple reflections and
transmissions in multilayered media. These phenomena
can be described in the frequency domain by a set of
normal modes. In the P-SV system, these normal modes
correspond to Rayleigh waves in the layered medium,
whereas in the SH system, they represent Love waves. As
their energy is mainly concentrated in the uppermost
layers, these normal modes are known as seismic surface
waves. The phase velocity of seismic surface waves is
highly sensitive to the S-wave velocity of the medium;
therefore, the dispersion characteristics of surface waves
are widely used for inverting the S-wave velocity structure
of the Earth at different scales.
Unlike the spherical Earth, the horizontally layered
model is an open system, and the normal modes in this
model are not complete, meaning they cannot be used to
synthesize complete theoretical seismograms (Maupin,
1996). For instance, in actual seismic records, a dispersive
phase called the PL phase exists between the P- and S-
waves (Oliver and Major, 1960; Phinney, 1961). This
phase is the leaky mode in a layered medium (Chimenti et
al., 1982; Haddon, 1984), in which energy can radiate into
the underlying half-space medium. The leaky mode can be
combined with the normal modes to synthesize the
wavefield in a horizontally layered medium (Haddon,
1984, 1986 ). With the development of dense array
observations and seismic interferometry, effective
multimode surface wave and leaky mode dispersion curves
(Li ZB et al., 2022) can be extracted using data from active
sources or ambient noise (e.g., Wang JN et al., 2019; Hu
SQ et al., 2020; Qin TW et al., 2022; Qin TW and Lu LY,
improve the stability and resolution of inversions (Xia JH
et al., 2003; Fu L et al., 2022), whereas leaky modes are
more sensitive to P-wave velocity. Therefore, the use of
multiple normal and/or leaky modes to invert the
parameters of the medium has gradually attracted the
attention of seismologists (Li ZB et al., 2021; Sun CY et
al., 2021; Kennett, 2023).
The normal modes are associated with the real
eigenvalues of the dispersion equation. This means that
both the frequency and horizontal wavenumber are real.
Leaky modes are associated with the complex eigenvalues
of the dispersion equation (Haddon, 1984, 1986; Maupin,
1996). A dispersion image is plotted as a function of the
real frequency and phase velocity. Modes with phase
velocities less than the S-wave velocity in the bottom half-
space are referred to as normal modes. The real parts of the
eigenvalues for the leaky and normal modes are similar
(Shi CW et al., 2022) in this velocity range. Therefore,
leaky modes usually refer to modes with phase velocities
greater than the S-wave velocity in the bottom half-space.
Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the normal and
leaky modes in horizontally layered media represent
classical problems in seismic wave propagation (Ewing et
al., 1957; Brekhovskikh, 1980; Kennett, 1983). The
transfer matrix (TM) method is a classical approach to
solving such problems (Thomson, 1950; Haskell, 1953). In
this method, the matrices described by the parameters of
each layer are connected via the continuity conditions at
each interface. By applying the radiation conditions to the
bottom half-space, the matrix at the surface layer can be
obtained by transferring the matrix in the bottom half-
space layer-by-layer to the free surface. By applying the
boundary conditions at the free surface, a dispersion
equation can be obtained using the conditions for
nontrivial solutions. Matrix formulation has been improved
to avoid the loss of significant digits in numerical
computations and simplify the form of the TM (e.g.,
Thrower, 1965; Dunkin, 1965; Knopoff, 1964; Schwab
and Knopoff, 1970; Menke, 1979; Abo-Zena, 1979; Zhang
BX et al., 1996). Another method for solving such
problems is the generalized reflection and transmission
coefficient (GRT) method, originally proposed by Kennett
(e.g., Kennett and Kerry, 1979; Kennett, 1983). Luco and
Earthquake Science 37 (2024)
Apsel (1983) improved this method. Chen XF (1993)
proposed an algorithm using the GRT method to compute
eigenvalues and eigenfunctions in horizontally layered
media, which avoids exponential growth terms in
numerical calculations and exhibits good stability.
The most common process for searching the root of the
dispersion equation for normal modes is to search for the
real roots of the dispersion equation for a given real
frequency. Similarly, for the calculation of leaky modes,
the process involves searching for the complex roots of the
dispersion equation. The real part of the complex root is
plotted in the phase-velocity dispersion image. The S-wave
velocity in the bottom half-space serves as the boundary
separating the normal and leaky modes. If the phase
velocity exceeds the S-wave velocity in the bottom half-
space, the dispersion equation has no real roots, and the
complex roots are associated with leaky modes. However,
a special case should be considered, that is, the case in
which the phase velocity equals the P- and S-wave
velocities in each layer over the half-space. This case,
referred to as the critical phase velocity of the surface
waves or the critical mode, should be considered
separately because the matrix elements involved in the TM
and GRT methods exhibit a singularity.
The conventional root-finding process involves
searching for the phase velocity with a certain step size at a
given frequency. A velocity within an acceptable error
range is considered the root of the dispersion equation. To
a large extent, this process avoids the case in which the
phase velocity exactly matches the P- and S-wave
velocities of the layer over the half-space. Normal modes
defined in the frequency domain correspond to multiple
reflections and transmissions within each layer of body
waves that are incident to the upper interface of the half-
space at supercritical angles, whereas leaky modes
correspond to waves with an incident angle less than the
critical angle. In reality, the critical mode corresponds to
the body waves incident at a critical angle. Compared with
normal modes, the eigenfunction of the critical mode
exhibits specific characteristics. Buchen and Ben-Hador
∂ u (x, z, t) ( ( j)
2 ⇀ ( j)
ρ ( j)
= λ + 2µ ( j)
∂t 2
⇀ ( j)
where j = 1, 2, · · · , N + 1 , u represents the displacement,
and ∇ is the Hamiltonian operator.
By performing Fourier transformation and basis
 ( j)  
d  uy (k, z, ω)  
 ( j)  = 
dz τzy (k, z, ω)  ( j) 2 ( j) 2
Wang ST and Lu LY 15
(1996) defined the wave field for the phase velocity to be
equal to the body wave velocity of each layer over the
half-space; however, a detailed study of the eigenfunction
characteristics of the critical mode has not been conducted.
The main purpose of this study was to address the
singularity of the critical mode by introducing a general
linear solution to the wave equation. The eigenvalues and
eigenfunctions of surface waves were calculated based on
GRT theory. Using the same theoretical framework as that
of the GRT, the singularity of the matrix elements for the
critical mode was determined by supplementing the wave
field definition at the critical phase velocity. This allowed
us to calculate the eigenvalues and eigendisplacements
when the phase velocity equaled the body-wave velocity in
each layer over the half-space. Furthermore, the
characteristics of the eigenvalues and eigendisplacements
of the critical modes were analyzed for different
horizontally layered models.
2. GRT method in horizontally layered
media
In this section, we review the theory of GRT in
horizontally layered media, referring mainly to the
theoretical framework and variable representation
conventions of Chen XF (1993) and He YF et al. (2006).
2.1. Wave equations and displacement-stress vector
Considering the N +1 horizontally layered medium, as
shown in Figure 1, the z -axis was oriented vertically
downward and positive. The density, Lamé constants, and
shear modulus of the j -th layer are represented by ρ( j) , λ( j) ,
and µ( j) , respectively. The upper and lower boundaries of
the j -th layer are denoted as z( j−1) and z( j) . Surface-wave
normal modes, as intrinsic properties of horizontally
layered media, are nontrivial solutions to source-free
elastic dynamic equations subject to boundary conditions
(Chen XF, 1993). The two-dimensional source-free elastic
dynamic equations governing the motion in each layer are
given by
) [ ⇀ ( j) ]
⇀ ( j)
∇ ∇ · u (x, z, t) − µ( j) ∇ × ∇ × u (x, z, t) , (1)
function expansion on Equation (1), the differential
equations can be obtained for the SH and P-SV systems,
respectively:
1   u( j) (k, z, ω) 
0  y
µ( j)  

 ,
  ( j)  (2)
τ ω)
µ k −ρ ω 0 zy (k, z,
16 Wang ST and Lu LY Earthquake Science 37 (2024)

 
 ( j)   0 k
1
0   
 ux (k, z, ω)   µ( j)   u(xj) (k, z, ω) 
     
 ( j)   −λ( j) k   

d  uz (k, z, ω)
  1   uz (k, z, ω) 
( j)

   λ( j) + 2µ( j)

0 0
λ( j) + 2µ( j)   
 =     , (3)
dz  τ( j) (k, z, ω)   4µ( j) (λ( j) + µ( j) ) k2   τzx (k, z, ω) 
( j)
 zx   λ( j) k   
   − ρ( j) ω2 0 0   
 ( j)  λ( j) + 2µ( j) λ( j) + 2µ( j) 
τzz (k, z, ω)  τzz (k, z, ω)
( j)

0 −ρ( j) ω2 −k 0

where u( j) is the eigedisplacement, and τ( j) the eigen stress; (2) and (3) can be written as follows:
they are associated with coefficients obtained by d ( j)
Y (z) = A( j) Y ( j) (z) , (4)
expanding the source-free elastic dynamic equations using dz
basis functions (Zhang HM, 2021). ω is the angular where Y ( j) (z) is the displacement-stress vector. The
frequency, and k the horizontal wavenumber. Equations solution Y ( j) (z) of Equation (4) can be written as
 ( j) 
( j)   Λ( j) (z)
  ( j) 

 E E 
 
   Cd 
Y ( j) (z) =  ( j)     
11 12 d

  ( j)  ≜ E Λ
 
( j) ( j)
(z) C( j) , (5)
E21 E(22j)  Λu (z)
( j)
Cu

for the P-SV system. diagonal matrix has the form diag[Λ(dj) (z) , Λ(uj) (z)] = diag
[e−ν (z−z ) , e−ν (z −z) ] (Chen XF, 1993). The down- and up-
( j) ( j−1) ( j) ( j)
For the SH system, the solution is identical to Equation
(5), and E( j) for the SH system can be represented by going waves for the SH system can be represented by
′
 ( j) ( j)    T
[Cd( j) ,Cu( j) ] = [H̀ ( j) , H ( j) ]T .
 E11 E12   1 1 
E (z) =  ( j)
( j)
( j) 
 =   . (6) For the P-SV system, matrix elements E(mnj) (m, n = 1, 2)
E21 E22 −µ( j) ν( j) µ( j) ν( j)
in Equation (5) can be represented as submatrices of the
The formulation can be re-normalized such that the following 4 × 4 matrix:
 
 α( j) k β( j) ν( j) α( j) k β( j) ν( j) 

 
 ( j)   
 E11 E(12j)  1  α( j) γ( j) β( j) k −α( j) γ( j) −β( j) k 
E (z) = 
( j) 
 

 =  
  , (7)
ω  −2α( j) µ( j) kγ( j) 
E(21j) E(22j)  −β( j) µ( j) χ( j) 2α( j) µ( j) kγ( j) β( j) µ( j) χ( j) 
 

−α( j) µ( j) χ( j) −2β µ kν
( j) ( j) ( j)
−α µ χ
( j) ( j) ( j)
−2β µ kν
( j) ( j) ( j)

( )
where diag[Λ(dj) (z) , Λ(uj) (z)] = diag[e−γ (z−z ) , e−ν (z−z ) , 2 1/2
( j) ( j−1) ( j) ( j−1)

velocity. γ( j) = k2 − ω2 /α( j) and

e−γ (z −z) , e−ν (z −z) ]
( j) ( j) ( j)
is
( j)
a diagonal matrix. ( )1/2
ν( j) = k2 − ω2 /β( j)
2
′ ′ are quantities related to vertical
( j) T
[Cd( j) , C ] = [P̀( j) , V̀ ( j) , P( j) , V ( j) ]T is the coefficient of the
u
( )1/2 wavenumbers iγ( j) and iν( j) associated with P- and SV-
downward and upward waves. α( j) = λ( j) + 2µ( j) /ρ( j) is
( ( j) ( j) )1/2 waves, respectively. i is an imaginary unit. Taking single-
the P-wave velocity, and β = µ /ρ ( j)
is the S-wave
valued analytic branches for multi-valued functions on the
( ) ( )
z(0)
1st ρ(1), λ(1), μ(1)
x
complex plane requires Re ν( j) ≥ 0 and Re γ( j) ≥ 0 ,
z(1)
2nd ρ(2), λ(2), μ(2) where Re denotes the real part. Moreover, if both the real
z(2)
and imaginary parts of γ( j) or ν( j) are equal to zero,
...

...

z(j−1)
jth ρ(j), λ(j), μ(j) Equation (5) exhibits singularities.
z(j)
...

...

z(N−1)
ρ(N), λ(N), μ(N) 2.2. Generalized R/T method
Nth
z(N)
(N+1)th ρ(N+1), λ(N+1), μ(N+1)
z
Taking the P-SV system as an example, a set of
differential equations governing the up- and down-going
Figure 1. Horizontal layered model with N +1 layers; the
interface depth is marked on the left side of the coordinate axis waves can be derived based on Equation (5). The
z, and the layer index, density, and Lamé constant are listed continuity conditions of the displacement-stress vector at
from left to right within the layers. the interfaces, that is at z = z( j) , can be written as
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY 17
( ) ( )
Y ( j) z( j) = Y ( j+1) z( j) . (8) satisfy:



 Cd(1) = R(0) (1)
ud Cu
By applying the continuity conditions in Equation (8), 




 Cd( j+1) = Td( j) Cd( j) + R(udj) Cu( j+1)
the equations satisfying the stress-free surface can be 




obtained using the transfer matrix. The conditions of the 
 Cu( j) = R(duj) Cd( j) + Tu( j) Cu( j+1) . (9)



nontrivial solution of these equations lead to the 

 (N+1)
=T C (N) (N)



C d d d
eigenequations of surface waves. Therefore, the matrix in 


Equation (5) is referred to as the transfer matrix (Gilbert C (N)
u = R(N) (N)
du Cd

and Backus, 1966; Buchen and Ben-Hador, 1996). By applying the continuity and boundary conditions of
In each layer, there are waves from the upper interface the zero stresses at the free surface, as well as the radiation
that undergo transmission as down-going waves and waves boundary condition (no upgoing waves in the half-space)
from the lower interface that undergo reflection as upgoing and natural boundary conditions (the displacement and
waves. Chen XF (1993) introduced modified reflection and stress are limited at infinite depth), the modified R/T
transmission (R/T) coefficients at arbitrary interfaces. coefficients at the free surface ( j = 0 ) can be obtained by
They are R(0) ud , the coefficient at free surface ( j = 0 ), the (1) −1 (1) (1)
( )
ud = −E21
R(0) E22 Λu z(0) . (10)
one at the intermediate layers ( j = 1, 2, · · · , N − 1 ), denoted
as Td( j) , R(udj) , R(duj) , and Tu( j) , and the one at the bottom layer At the interfaces of the intermediate layers
( j = N ), denoted as Td(N) and R(N) du . These coefficients ( j = 1, 2, · · · , N − 1 ), we have:
 ( j)   −1   ( ) 
 Td R(udj)   E(11j+1) −E(12j)   E(11j) −E(12j+1)   Λ(dj) z( j) 
  =       . (11)
 ( j) ( j) 
  ( j+1) ( j)  
  
( j+1)  
 ( j+1) ( ( j) ) 

Rdu Tu E21 −E22 E21 −E22
( j)
Λu z
 ( )


 b( j) = 1 − R( j) b ( j+1) −1 ( j)
At the bottom half-space layer ( j = N ), we have: 
 T d ud R du Td
 (N)   (N+1) −1  (N)  
 , (15)


 b ( j) b( j+1) b( j)
 Td   E11 −E(N)
12 
  E11  ( ) Rdu = Rdu + Tu Rdu Td
( j) ( j)
  =     Λ(N) z(N) . (12)
 (N)   (N+1)   (N)  d
Rdu E21 −E(N)
22 E21 where j = N − 1, N − 2, · · · , 1 . For j = N , we have
b(N) = T (N) and b
du = Rdu . Based on the coefficients in the
R(N) (N)
The generalized R/T coefficients can be defined based T d d

on the modified R/T coefficients. The generalized R/T bottom half-space, the generalized R/T coefficients at the
b( j) and b top layer can be obtained using Equation (15).
coefficients Td R(duj) for the down-going waves are
Similarly, by substituting Equation (14) into Equation
defined as
(9), the recursive relations of the generalized R/T
 ( j+1)

 C =Tb( j) C( j) coefficients for the upgoing waves can be obtained:

 d d d

 , (13)  ( )−1 ( j)

 C( j) = b 

 b( j) b( j−1) ( j)
R( j) C( j)
u du d  Tu = 1 − Rud Rdu Tu


 , (16)


 b ( j) b( j−1) b( j)
where j = 1, 2, · · · , N . The generalized R/T coefficients, Rud = Rud + Td Rud Tu
( j) ( j)

bu( j) and b
T R(udj) , for the upgoing waves are defined as
where j = 1, 2, · · · , N . For j = 0 , we have bud = Rud . The
R(0) (0)
 ( j)

 C =T bu( j) Cu( j+1) generalized R/T coefficients in the bottom half-space can

 u

 , (14) be obtained using Equation (16).

 C( j+1) = b
d R( j) C( j+1)
ud u The modified R/T coefficients for each layer can be
calculated using Equation (11), and the generalized R/T
where j = 1, 2, · · · , N − 1 . In the bottom half-space, using
b(N) = T (N) and coefficients can be obtained using Equations (15) and (16).
the radiation boundary condition, we have T d d
According to Pei D et al. (2008), generalized R/T
b
R(N) = R(N) . At the free surface, the generalized reflection
du du coefficients can be directly defined without defining
coefficient b
R(0)
ud can be obtained using the free-surface modified R/T coefficients. Because the modified R/T
boundary condition, which satisfies C(1) = b
R(0) Cu(1) .d ud coefficients include vertical phase delays and provide
By substituting Equation (13) into Equation (9), the information on the reflection and transmission at each
following recursive relations of the generalized R/T interface, they provide a clearer and more physical
coefficients for downgoing waves can be obtained: explanation of the wave function of the critical phase
18 Wang ST and Lu LY
velocity. We began by defining the modified R/T
coefficients and embedding the wave function related to
the critical phase velocity into them.
2.3. Dispersion equation
Similar to the transfer matrix method, the
eigenequation can be derived using recursive relations and
zero free-surface stresses:
( ) (1)
21 + E22 Λu
E(1) (1) (1)
z(0) b
Rdu = 0. (17)
In theory, the dispersion equation shown in Equation
(17) encompasses all eigenvalues of the normal modes.
However, missing roots may occur in practical
calculations, particularly when low-velocity layers are
present. To address this issue, He YF et al. (2006)
proposed the concept of a secular function family, building
on Chen XF (1993).
From Equations (13) and (14), we have:
 ( j)
 b( j−1) ( j)
 Cd = Rud Cu
 may exactly matches the P- or S-wave velocity of the

 , (18)
 C( j) = b
R( j) C( j)
u du d
where j = 1, 2, · · · , N . By combining the two equations, we
have:
( )
1−b R(udj−1) b
R(duj) Cd( j) = 0. (19)
For down-going wave coefficient Cd( j) to be a nonzero
solution, the determinant of the coefficient matrix in
Equation (19) must equal zero:
1−b
R(udj−1) b
R(duj) = 0. (20)
The left side of Equation (20) is referred to as the
secular function family (Chen XF, 1993; He YF et al.,
2006; Wu B, 2016). Chen XF (1993) initially derived the
eigenequation of surface waves using the generalized R/T
coefficients in the first layer, that is, when j = 1 in
Equation (19).
In Equation (20), the secular function associated with
each layer j leads to an eigenequation. Theoretically, these
equations are equivalent. By considering the sensitivity of
the surface wave modes to the depths, the secular functions
can be selected at the appropriate layer to avoid missing
the root caused by the numerical calculation used to find
the eigenvalue. Wu B and Chen XF (2016) proposed an
adaptive method for selecting the secular functions. After
obtaining the eigenvalues of the surface waves using
Equation (20), they can be substituted into Equation (18)
to compute the coefficients of the up- and down-going
waves. The eigenfunctions of the different surface-wave
modes can then be calculated using Equation (5).
Earthquake Science 37 (2024)
3. Theory and methods
Based on the generalized R/T coefficients and
considering the secular function family for either the free
surface or an appropriate layer, the eigenvalues and
eigenfunctions of the surface waves can be effectively
calculated by decreasing the overflow at high frequencies
(He YF et al., 2006; Wu B and Chen XF, 2016). To
determine the phase velocity of the surface waves, a
specific frequency is provided, and the phase velocities for
different modes are searched in steps by solving the root of
the eigenequation. Once the searched velocity satisfies the
error requirements, it is considered the phase velocity at a
given frequency. From the numerical computation, a
situation in which the searched phase velocity exactly
matches the P- or S-wave velocity of the layer is largely
avoided during this process. Another scheme for
determining the eigenvalue is to identify the frequency of a
given phase velocity. In this case, the given phase velocity
layer, that is, the critical phase velocity of the surface wave
or critical mode. The matrix formulation presented in
Section 2.1 does not define the critical mode well.
( )
Although the critical phase velocity satisfies Re ν( j) ≥ 0
( )
and Re γ( j) ≥ 0 ≥ 0 , if ν( j) = 0 or γ( j) = 0 , both the real and
imaginary parts of γ( j) or ν( j) are zero, leading to the
singularity in Equation (5).
Owing to the reciprocal relationship between the ray
parameter and phase velocity, the critical phase velocity
corresponds to the critical refraction. Brekhovskikh (1980)
discussed the calculation of critical refraction when
solving for reflected waves using integral transform
methods and obtained a solution for the primary reflection
wave (corresponding to a ray path). In the frequency
domain, the surface wave field is a superposition of an
infinite number of modes (Harkrider, 1964; Saito, 1967).
In the time domain, this corresponds to a combination of
infinite body-wave rays (Wigginst and Helmberger, 1974;
Cerveny, 1979; Zhao L and Dahlen, 1996). Investigating
the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of surface waves at the
critical phase velocity aids our understanding of the
relationship between modes and rays for the surface wave
field, particularly the energy distribution for critical
refraction. Starting from the general solution of the wave
equation, we studied the reasons for the singularity of the
matrix formulation at the critical phase velocity of surface
waves. A solution to overcome this singularity was
proposed. Moreover, the characteristics of the critical
mode eigenfunctions were investigated for different
layered models.
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY 19

3.1. Fundamental solution of the wave equation Z (z) = C1 + C2 z. (26)

For simplicity, the superscript omits the index of the Equation (26) represents a plane wave propagating
layer. In each layer, the wave equations of the SH-wave along the horizontal plane, and its amplitude varies linearly
displacement and the P- and SV-wave potential functions with depth.
can be written as Equations (24) and (25) can be written in a unified
 2 form as


 ∂ uy (x, z, t) ′


 − β2 ∇2 uy (x, z, t) = 0 Z (z) = C̀eikz z + Ce−ikz z . (27)


 ∂t 2




 ∂2 φ (x, z, t) The general solutions of the potential functions φ and


 − α2 ∇2 φ (x, z, t) = 0 , (21) ψ in Equation (21) are similar to Equations (26) and (27)


 ∂t 2 ( )1/2


 with kz = ω2 /α2 − k2 for φ . Equation (27) represents


 ∂ ψ (x, z, t)
2

 − β2 ∇2 ψ (x, z, t) = 0 the downward or upward propagating homogeneous plane
∂t 2 wave for a real nonzero kz . If kz is purely imaginary and
where uy is the SH-wave displacement, φ is the P-wave has a positive imaginary part, Equation (27) represents an
potential function, and ψ is the SV-wave potential evanescent or inhomogeneous plane wave, corresponding
function. Equation (21) is solved by the separation of to either the downward or upward tunneling phenomenon
variables. Taking the equation of SH-wave displacement (Mellman and Helmberger, 1974; Brekhovskikh, 1980).
as an example: The solution given by Equation (27) is equivalent to the
plane-wave solutions of Equation (5), whereas the linear
uy (x, z, t) = X (x) Z (z) T (t) . (22) solution described by Equation (26) is ignored in Equation
(5). The existence of this solution requires kz to be zero,
We have:
leading to critical modes, which can be interpreted as the
 ’’


 T (t) + ω2 T (t) = 0 modes in which phase velocity c equals the P- or S-wave


 ’’
X (x) + k2 X (x) = 0 , velocity of the layer above the half-space. This critical



(23)


 Z ’’ (z) + k2 Z (z) = 0 mode was described by Ewing et al. (1957) to account for
z grazing incidence phenomena. Compared with Equation
( 2 2 2 )1/2 (27), a clear feature of Equation (26) is its independence
where kz = ω /β − k , Re (kz ) ≥ 0. ω is the angular
from the frequency.
frequency, k is the horizontal wavenumber, and kz is the
To avoid the singularity arising in Equation (5) when
vertical wavenumber. Because the eigenfunctions of
the phase velocity equals the P- or S-wave velocity of each
surface waves in horizontally layered media depend only
layer and calculate the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of
on depth z , only the solution of the differential equation
the critical mode within the existing theoretical
related to kz was considered.
framework, the linear solution presented in Equation (26)
Three general solutions can be obtained for the can be embedded into the generalized R/T coefficients. For
differential equation in Equation (23). When kz is a this purpose, we define term C1 in Equation (26) as the
nonzero real number, the general solution is given by: “down-going wave” and term C2 z as the “up-going wave”.
Equation (26) can be rewritten as
Z (z) = C1 cos kz z + C2 sin kz z, (24)
′
where C1 and C2 are the arbitrary constants. The Z (z) = C̀ + C z. (28)
trigonometric functions in Equation (24) represent a In addition, to satisfy the natural boundary condition in
′
homogeneous plane-wave solution with a real incident the bottom half-space, we set C = 0 . The down-going
angle. waves in the bottom half-space, such as the downward
When kz is purely imaginary and has a positive homogeneous, inhomogeneous, and constant plane waves,
imaginary component, the general solution is given by propagate downward without generating any “reflected”
waves from the bottom half-space. In this study, the
Z (z) = C1 eikz z + C2 e−ikz z . (25)
boundary conditions in the half-space that must be
Equation (25) represents the waves that increase or satisfied are referred to as radiation conditions. The
decrease exponentially with depth. This is an downward propagating homogeneous plane wave
inhomogeneous plane wave with a complex incident angle. corresponds to the leaky mode related to the refraction of
When kz is zero, the general solution is given by the half-space interface at angles less than the critical
20 Wang ST and Lu LY Earthquake Science 37 (2024)
 (s) (s)   
angle. The downward inhomogeneous plane wave  E11 E12   1 z − z(s−1) 
corresponds to the normal mode related to the refraction at E (z) =  (s)
(s)
(s) 
 =  
 (31)
E21 E22 0 µ (s)

angles greater than the critical angle. The downward

The diagonal matrix is diag[Λ(s) d (z) , Λu (z)] = diag [1, 1] .
(s)
constant plane wave corresponds to critical refraction,
which is the boundary between the normal and leaky The coefficients of the down- and up-going waves are
′
modes. [Cd(s) ,Cu(s) ]T = [H̀ (s) , H (s) ]T . Considering the radiation
′
Equation (28) can be rewritten as conditions in half-space, H (N+1) = 0 for s = N + 1 . The
′ ′ ( ) transfer matrices for the other layers remain, except for the
C̀ + Cz → C̀ + C z − z(s−1) , (29) s -th layer, where the phase velocity is equal to the body-
wave velocity.
where s ∈ 1, 2, · · · , N . By comparing the displacement-
3.2.2 P-SV system
stress vector obtained from the solutions of Equations (27)
For the P-SV system, the solution given by Equation
and (29) with the general solution of Equation (5), the (29) represents the solution of the potential function. The
singularity of the critical mode can be addressed by displacement-stress vector obtained by the potential
modifying the matrix formulation. functions using Hooke’s law differs from that in Equation
(5). Therefore, we redefine the displacement-stress vector
3.2. Transfer matrix formulation at the critical
as well as the coefficients of down- and upgoing waves as:
phase velocity 


 u(z j) (z)


 ū(z j) (z) =
3.2.1 SH system 

 i



For the SH system, the solution of the wave equation in 

 τ(zzj) (z)

τ̄zz (z) =
( j)


Equation (21) is consistent with the eigen displacement- 

 i


 α ( j)
stress vector in Equation (5). The matrix formulation of the 

P̄` ( j) =
 P̀( j)

 iω
critical mode can be directly obtained based on the general 
 . (32)


 β( j) ( j)
solution shown in Equation (29). ` 

V̄ =

( j)
V̀


 ω
If phase velocity c = β(s) ( s is the index of layers from 

′

 α( j) ′ ( j)
1, 2, · · · , N + 1 ), the eigen displacement-stress vector in the 
P̄( j) =

 P


 iω
s -th layer can be expressed as 


′


 β( j) ′
 ′ ( ) V̄ ( j) = − V ( j)



 u(s) (z) = H̀ (s) + H (s) z − z(s−1) ω

 y
 . (30) The quantities on the right of Equation (32) are the



 τ(s) (z) = µ(s) H′ (s) originals in Equation (5).
zy
Based on Equation (32), the matrix formulation in
The transfer matrix occurred in Equation (5) for Equation (5) for c = β(s) at the s -th layer can be expressed
c = β(s) is then given by as
 
 α(s) k 0 α(s) k β(s) 
 (s)  
 
 E11 E(s)
12  1  α(s) γ(s) β k
(s)
−α γ (s) (s)
−β k(z − z ) 
(s) (s−1)

E(s) (z) =  (s) =

 ω   , (33)
E21 E(s)  −2α µ kγ
(s) (s) (s)
−β(s) µ(s) k2 2α(s) µ(s) kγ(s) β(s) µ(s) k2 (z − z(s−1) ) 
22
 
−α(s) µ(s) χ(s) 0 −α(s) µ(s) χ(s) −2β(s) µ(s) k
′ ′

d (z) , Λu (z)] = diag

where the diagonal matrix is diag[Λ(s) (s) down-going waves are [Cd(s) , Cu(s) ]T = [P̄` (s) , V̄` (s) , P̄(s) , V̄ (s) ]T .
[e−γ
(s)
(z−z(s−1) )
, 1, e−γ (z −z) , 1] . The coefficients of the up- and
(s) (s)
For c = α(s) , the matrix formulation at the s -th layer is:
 
 α(s) k β(s) ν(s) α(s) k(z − z(s−1) ) β(s) ν(s) 
 (s) (s) 
 
 E11 E12  1   0 β k(s)
−α (s)
−β k(s)

E (z) =  (s)
(s)  
 =    , (34)
(s)  ω  
E21 E22 0 −β µ χ
(s) (s) (s)
2α µ k
(s) (s)
β µ χ
(s) (s) (s)

 
α(s) λ(s) k2 −2β(s) µ(s) kν(s) α(s) λ(s) k2 (z − z(s−1) ) −2β(s) µ(s) kν(s)
where the diagonal matrix is diag[Λ(s) d (z) , Λu (z)] = diag
(s)
Considering the radiation condition in the half-space,
′ ′
[1, e−ν (z−z ) , 1, e−ν (z −z) ] . The coefficients of the up- and
(s) (s−1) (s) (s)

′ ′
[P̄ , V̄ (s) ]T = [0, 0]T for s = N + 1 . The transfer matrices for
(s)
T
down-going waves are [C(s) , C(s) ] = [P̄` (s) , V̄` (s) , P̄(s) , V̄ (s) ]T .
d u the other layers remained the same, except for the s -th
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY 21

layer. All calculations are the same as those in the original
theoretical frame, except the matrix elements are replaced
with new ones above the s -th layer. A specific case
concerns a multilayered SH system at s = 1 . In this case,
the definitions of the down- and up-going waves in
′ ′
Equation (26) should be u(1)y (z) = H + H̀ (1) z , that is, H is
(1)
and the layer thickness to 5 km. To determine the
eigenvalues of the general normal modes from the
eigenequation, the phase velocity is searched for a given
frequency. For the critical mode, the frequency was
searched at a given critical phase velocity. At a frequency
range of 0–0.2 Hz, the eigenvalues are calculated at

sampling points which are distributed at equal intervals of

now the up-going wave, whereas H̀z is the down-going
wave. In this manner, the wave field satisfies the boundary
conditions at the free surface and the radiation conditions
′ the eigenvalues are calculated at frequencies with equal
at infinity in half-space. If we use the definition where H z
represents the upgoing wave and H̀ represents the
downgoing wave, the reflection coefficient at the free
′
surface becomes infinite. Redefining constant H (1) as an
upgoing wave naturally implies that the energy in the
second layer is critically refracted into the first layer when
s = 1 , generating a constant plane wave that propagates
upward in the first layer. Meanwhile, H̀ (1) z is zero in this
case. There are no waves “reflected” back, and the free
surface effectively acts as a half-space.
4. Numerical simulation
Based on the previous theoretical analysis, numerical
simulations were conducted to investigate the eigenvalues
and eigenfunctions of the surface waves of the critical
mode for different models. The model parameters are
listed in Table 1 and include a homogeneous half-space,
two velocity-increasing models, and a layered model with
a low-velocity layer. The last two columns in Table 1
the phase velocity because it exhibits a large gradient at
this frequency range. For frequencies greater than 0.2 Hz,
intervals.
4.1. Critical SH wave in a homogeneous half-space
Model 1 was a homogeneous half-space model.
According to the classical wave theory, Love waves exist
in a layered model with at least one finite-thickness
covering layer. The classical Love wave mode does not
exist for a homogeneous half-space model because the
theory only considers the general solution from Equation
(27). Applying the free-surface boundary condition and
radiation condition in the half-space, we immediately
obtain coefficients of zero for both up- and down-going
waves based on the solution for Equation (27), implying
that there are no meaningful solutions for SH systems in a
half-space. However, if we consider the solution of the
linear function in Equation (29) at c = β(1) , a meaningful
solution for this mode can be obtained. If s = 1 in Equation
(30), the displacement-stress vector in a homogeneous
half-space model can be obtained as:
 ′ ( )


 uy (z) = H̀ + H z − z
 (1) (1) (1) (0)


 . (35)
provide the phase velocity of the classical nondispersive 
 τ(1) (z) = µ(1) H′ (1)
Rayleigh wave mode propagating in a semi-infinite zy

medium, as described by the layer parameters and Poisson’s By applying the free-surface boundary and radiation
′
ratio. conditions, we obtained H (1) = 0. Therefore, a
For simplicity, the density of each layer is set to 1 g/cm3 nondispersive but meaningful solution can be obtained.

Table 1. Parameters of the horizontally layered model.

Density P-wave velocity S-wave velocity Thickness R-wave phase velocity
Model Layer index Poisson’s ratio
(g/cm3 ) (km/s) (km/s) (km) (km/s)

1 1 1 6 1 +∞ 0.954 0.486

2 1 1 6 1 5 0.954 0.486

2 1 7 3 +∞ 2.834 0.388

3 1 1 2.5 1 5 0.943 0.405

2 1 7 2 5 1.899 0.456

3 1 8 3 +∞ 2.834 0.418

4 1 1 7 2 5 1.899 0.456

2 1 6 1 5 0.954 0.486

3 1 8 3 +∞ 2.834 0.418
22 Wang ST and Lu LY Earthquake Science 37 (2024)

The displacement-stress vector is given by the half-space. The eigendisplacement decayed

 (1)

 uy (z) = H̀
 (1) exponentially with depth. The critical mode does not exist

 . (36) in the homogeneous half-space of the P-SV system.
 τ(1) (z) = 0
zy
4.2. Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the critical
This solution is the critical SH mode in a homogeneous
mode in the model with increasing layer velocity
half-space. The eigendisplacement was constant and did
not vary with depth. The eigenstress was zero at all depths. The velocity of the layer in Models 2 and 3 increased
Figure 2a and b shows the phase velocity and with depth. Models 2 and 3 consisted of two and three
eigendisplacement of this mode, respectively. The velocity layers, respectively. Figure 3a shows the phase velocity
of this mode did not vary with frequency. It propagates normal modes of the SH wave in Model 2, which are
horizontally at a velocity equal to the S-wave velocity of typical Love waves. The phase velocity of the Love wave
the half-space and behaves as a nonattenuating modes varies between the S-wave velocity of the first layer
homogeneous plane wave in the vertical direction and the bottom half-space, i.e., 1 km/s < c ≤ 3 km/s . The
(Brekhovskikh, 1980). For frequencies greater than zero, phase velocity of the fundamental mode tends toward the
the displacement remains constant with depth. S-wave velocity of the first layer at high frequencies, i.e.,
For the P-SV system, the only normal mode that exists 1km/s . As discussed in Section 4.1, this velocity limit is
in the half-space is the classical Rayleigh wave, which is also a critical SH mode in Model 1, which is a
formed by the interaction of inhomogeneous P and SV homogeneous half-space model. This is analogous to the
waves at the free surface. For comparison with the SH Rayleigh wave in layered media, where the high-frequency
critical mode, Figure 2c and d shows the eigenvalues and limit of the phase velocity of the fundamental Rayleigh
eigendisplacement of the classical Rayleigh wave in Model mode tends toward the phase velocity of the classical
1. As is already known, this mode is nondispersive, and the Rayleigh wave mode, treating the top layer as a half-space.
phase velocity is slightly lower than the S-wave velocity of Figure 3b shows the eigendisplacements as a function
(a) (b) f>0 Hz
1.5 0
Phase velocity (km/s)

Depth (km)

1.0

0.5 5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

(c) (d) f=0.6 Hz, c=0.954 km/s

1.5 0
Phase velocity (km/s)

Depth (km)

1.0

0.5 5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

Figure 2. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of Model 1. (a) Phase velocity of the SH critical mode. (b) Eigendisplacement
(solid line) of the SH critical mode. (c) Phase velocity of the P-SV system (classic Rayleigh mode). (d) Eigendisplacement of
a Rayleigh wave at 0.6 Hz. The solid line denotes the vertical component while the dashed line denotes the horizontal
component (the same applies to the following figures). They are normalized by the maximum. The vertical dashed line in (b)
and (d) denotes the zero in the horizontal axis.
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY 23

(a) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (b) c=2 km/s

3.0 0
Phase velocity (km/s)
2.5

Depth (km)
0
2.0 5

1.5

1.0
10
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

(c) c=2.999 km/s (d) c=3 km/s

0 0
Depth (km)

Depth (km)
5 5

10 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Mode index Mode index

Figure 3. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of SH wave in Model 2. (a) Phase velocity of Love waves. The mode indices
are labeled in the panel, and the dots represent the critical modes at a phase velocity of 3 km/s. (b) Eigendisplacement as a
function of depth at a phase velocity of 2 km/s. The labels of the horizontal axis are the indices of the modes, the vertical
dashed lines represent their zero positions. (c) Same as (b) but at 2.999 km/s, close to the critical phase velocity of 3 km/s, i.e.,
the S-wave velocity in the half-space. (d) Eigendisplacement of the critical mode at 3 km/s, i.e., the eigendisplacement
associated with the eigenvalues denoted by dots in (a).

of the depth at phase velocity c = 2 km/s , that is, the the normal modes for a phase velocity in the range of
eigendisplacement associated with the eigenvalues located 1 km/s < c < 3 km/s , the eigendisplacements of the critical
at the intersections between the black dashed line and the modes remain constant in the bottom half-space, sharing
dispersion branches in Figure 3a. Figure 3c shows the the same ray parameters (or horizontal slowness) as
eigendisplacements at a phase velocity of c = 2.999 km/s . critically refracted or head waves (Červený and Ravindra,
Figure 3b and c presents the typical characteristics of 1971). Their eigendisplacements are closely related to the
eigendisplacements for the phase velocity in the range of energy distribution of the critical refracted waves.
1 km/s < c ≤ 3 km/s . The energy is predominantly Comparing Figure 3c and d , the eigendisplacements near
concentrated in the first layer, corresponding to standing the critical phase velocity (2.99 km/s) exhibited continuity
waves in the spatial domain formed by the interference with those of the critical modes. In other words, as the
between the upward and downward homogeneous plane phase velocity gradually increases from 1 km/s to a critical
waves in the first layer. In this velocity range, these modes velocity of 3 km/s, the decay of the eigendisplacements in
are SH-guided waves, where the SH-waves undergo the half-space gradually slows until the phase velocity
supercritical reflection and transmission at the bottom matches the half-space S-wave velocity, and the
interface of the first layer ( z = 5 km ), and the energy is eigendisplacements are constant in the bottom half-space.
trapped within this layer. In the lower half-space, the Figure 4 shows the eigenvalues and
eigendisplacements decayed exponentially with depth. eigendisplacements of the P-SV wave in Model 2.
In Figure 3a, the critical modes are referred to as cutoff Compared with the SH system, the clear difference in the
modes because they correspond to the cutoff frequencies P-SV system lies in the fundamental mode. The
of normal modes. These critical modes indicate the fundamental Rayleigh mode is caused by the interaction
boundaries between the normal and leaky modes. Figure between inhomogeneous P and SV waves at the free
3d shows the eigendisplacements of these modes. Unlike surface. At high frequencies, the phase velocity of this
24 Wang ST and Lu LY Earthquake Science 37 (2024)

(a) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (b) f=0.6 Hz, c=0.954 km/s

3.0 0
Phase velocity (km/s)

2.5

Depth (km)
2.0 0
5

1.5

1.0
10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

(c) c=0.999 km/s, f=0.152 Hz (d) c=1 km/s, f=0.151 Hz

0 0
Depth (km)

Depth (km)
5 5

10 10
0 0
Mode index Mode index

(e) c=1.001 km/s, f=0.150 Hz (f) c=2 km/s

0 0
Depth (km)

Depth (km)

5 5

10 10
0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Mode index Mode index

(g) c=2.999 km/s (h) c=3 km/s

0 0
Depth (km)
Depth (km)

5 5

10 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Mode index Mode index

Figure 4. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of P-SV wave in Model 2. (a) Phase velocity of Rayleigh waves. (b)
Eigendisplacement associated with the eigenvalues denoted by red dots in (a), where the frequency is 0.6 Hz and phase
velocity is 0.954 km/s. (c)–(e) are the eigendisplacement of the fundamental mode at phase velocities of 0.999, 1, and 1.001
km/s, respectively. (f)–(h) are the eigendisplacements of modes at phase velocities of 2, 2.999, and 3 km/s, respectively. In the
panels depicting eigendisplacement, blue denotes the normal mode, whereas black denotes the critical mode (the same applies
to the following figures).
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY
mode converges to that (0.954 km/s) of the classic
Rayleigh wave in a model formed by treating the first layer
as a half-space. At low frequencies, the phase velocity of
the mode converges to that of the classic Rayleigh wave
(2.834 km/s) in a half-space model without the first layer
(Zhang BX and Lu LY, 2002). Bounded by the phase
velocity ( c = 1 km/s ) of the critical mode, the fundamental
Rayleigh wave can be divided into two segments. For
segment c <1 km/s, the waves behaved as inhomogeneous
plane waves in both the first layer and half-space. For
segment c >1 km/s, the waves in the first layer become
homogeneous plane waves. The eigendisplacements
decayed exponentially with depth for the entire
fundamental mode. As the frequency decreased, the decay
slowed and the penetration depth increased.
Similar to the SH modes, high-order P-SV modes with
phase velocities ranging from 1 m/s < c < 3 km/s are
trapped waves (or guided waves) (Zhang BX and Lu LY,
2002). These modes result from the supercritical reflection
and transmission of the SV wave and are referred to as SV-
type Love waves by Kennett (1983). A comparison of
Figures 3b and 4f show that the distributions of the
eigendisplacements for the SH and P-SV waves at
c = 2 km/s are similar.
As shown in Figure 4h, the vertical displacements of
the critical mode at c = 3 km/s rapidly approached a
constant value in the bottom half-space, whereas the
horizontal displacement decayed exponentially with depth.
This is similar to the energy distribution of the head wave
due to the critical refraction of the SV wave. Figure 4g
shows the eigendisplacement at c = 2.999 km/s , which is
close to the phase velocity (3 km/s) of the critical mode.
Owing to slow attenuation with depth, the vertical
eigendisplacement in the half-space also appears to
approach a constant. Wu B (2016) found this feature for
the mode near the critical phase velocity and interpreted it
as the radiation mode (Maupin, 1996). This may be caused
by the slow decay of the eigendisplacement as it
approaches the critical mode. At a sufficiently large depth,
the eigendisplacement decays to zero. Conversely, it shows
that the variation in the eigendisplacement is continuous
from normal to critical mode and proves that the critical
mode calculation in this study is reliable.
Figure 5 shows the eigenvalues and
eigendisplacements of the SH waves in Model 3. Bounded
by the S-wave velocities of each layer, the characteristics
of the eigendisplacement are determined for modes located
in different phase velocity ranges, as performed by Fan
YH et al. (2007). If phase velocity c lies between the S-
wave velocities of the first layer and bottom half-space,
that is, 1 km/s < c < 2 km/s , the modes exhibit typical
25
normal mode characteristics. Because of the reflection at
z = 5 km , most of the energy was concentrated in the first
layer. Only a small value is transmitted below the second
layer. We selected the eigendisplacement at c = 1.6 km/s
as an example of a normal mode. As shown in Figure 5b,
most of the energy is concentrated in the first layer. The
eigendisplacement decayed exponentially starting from
z = 5 km , the bottom interface of the first layer. In the low-
frequency range (e.g., the segment at low frequency for the
same dispersion branch or the lower order of modes for the
same phase velocity shown in Figure 5b), the
eigendisplacement in the half-space decays slowly and has
a deep penetration depth, which is well known in surface
wave imaging. This is related to the tunneling effect of
inhomogeneous waves (Mellman and Helmberger, 1974;
Brekhovskikh, 1980) or finite-frequency effects. The
inhomogeneous down-going waves in the second layer did
not decay to a sufficiently small value at z =10 km, and a
small amount of energy was reflected from the interface to
the top layers as upward inhomogeneous waves. The other
portion was transmitted into the half-space and decayed
exponentially. Consequently, the energy was observed in
both the first and second layers at low frequencies. At high
frequencies, the finite-frequency effect decays rapidly and
the high-frequency ray effect gradually becomes dominant.
As shown in Figure 5b, the energy is concentrated in the
first layer.
As the phase velocity increases to the S-wave velocity
of the second layer (2 km/s), the down-going waves in the
first layer impinge on z = 5 km at the critical angle. A
wave sliding along the interface is generated owing to the
critical refraction. This wave is associated with solution C̀z
in Equation (31), representing the down-going plane wave,
and behaves as a non-decaying plane wave in the
horizontal direction (Brekhovskikh, 1980). In the depth
direction, it remains constant. When this wave impinged
on z = 10 km , an upgoing reflected wave was generated.
The upward reflected wave is associated with solution C̀z
in Equation (31). The interaction between the upward and
downward waves in the second layer led to a typical linear
function. Consequently, the eigendisplacement of the
critical mode exhibited a linear variation in the second
layer, as shown in Figure 5c. Meanwhile, the downward
wave interacted with the interface at z = 10 km , resulting
in an exponentially decaying plane wave in the bottom
half-space. As expressed in Equation (31), the solution of
the critical mode is independent of the frequency,
distinguishing it from the finite-frequency tunneling effect
of the normal mode. For example, in Figure 5b, the
downward inhomogeneous wave generated by supercritical
refraction in the second layer decays rapidly after leaving
26 Wang ST and Lu LY Earthquake Science 37 (2024)

(a) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 (b) c=1.6 km/s

3.0 0
Phase velocity (km/s)

2.5
5

Depth (km)
2.0 0

10
1.5

1.0
15
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

(c) c=2 km/s (d) c=2.6 km/s

0 0

5 5
Depth (km)

Depth (km)
10 10

15 15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Mode index Mode index

(c) c=3 km/s

0

5
Depth (km)

10

15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Mode index

Figure 5. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of SH wave in Model 3. (a) Phase velocity of Love wave modes. (b)–(e) are
the eigendisplacement of modes at phase velocity of 1.6, 2, 2.6, and 3 km/s, respectively. In panels depicting the
eigendisplacement, blue denotes the normal mode, whereas black denotes the critical mode.

z = 5 km . The penetration depth decreases with increasing layers and rapidly decayed in the bottom half-space.
frequency, and the energy close to z = 10 km is trivial. In Similar to Model 2, as the phase velocity increases, the
contrast, the waves associated with the frequency- decay of the eigendisplacement in the half-space gradually
independent solution of Equation (31) propagate in the slows until it becomes constant at the critical velocity, as
second layer with a linear function, resulting in the linear shown in Figure 5e, where the eigendisplacement of the
function form of the eigendisplacement in the second critical mode at c = 3 km/s is given. The characteristics of
layer. the critical mode eigendisplacement in the first and second
If the phase velocity is greater than the S-wave velocity layers were similar to those of the normal mode, except
of the second layer and less than that of the bottom half- that the critical mode eigendisplacement remained constant
space, that is, 2 km/s < c < 3 km/s , the modes behave as in the bottom half-space.
normal modes. We selected c = 2.6 km/s as an example to Figure 6 shows the eigenvalues and
investigate the features of the eigendisplacement in this eigendisplacements of the P-SV system in Model 3. Figure
velocity range. The results are shown in Figure 5d. The 6b shows the eigendisplacement of the fundamental mode
energy was primarily concentrated in the first and second at f = 0.6 Hz and c = 0.943 km/s . It decayed
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY 27

(a) 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 10 11 1213 1415 (a) f=0.6Hz, c=0.943 km/s

3.0 0
1

Phase velocity (km/s)

2.5
5

Depth (km)
2.0 0

10
1.5

1.0
15
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0
Frequency (Hz) Mode index
(c) c=1 km/s, f=0.133 Hz (d) c=1.6 km/s
0 0

5 5
Depth (km)

Depth (km)
10 10

15 15
0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mode index Mode index
(e) c=2 km/s (f) c=2.2 km/s
0 0

5 5
Depth (km)

Depth (km)

10 10

15 15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mode index Mode index
(g) c=2.4 km/s (h) c=2.5 km/s
0 0

5 5
Depth (km)
Depth (km)

10 10

15 15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Mode index Mode index

(i) c=2.9 km/s (j) c=3 km/s

0 0

5 5
Depth (km)
Depth (km)

10 10

15 15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Mode index Mode index

Figure 6. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of P-SV wave in Model 3. (a) Phase velocity of Rayleigh waves. (b)
Eigendisplacement associated with the eigenvalues denoted by a red dot in (a), where the frequency is 0.6 Hz and phase
velocity is 0.943 km/s. (c) Eigendisplacement of the fundamental mode at 1 km/s. (d)–(j) denote the eigendisplacement at 1.6,
2, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.9, and 3 km/s, respectively. In the panels depicting eigendisplacement, blue denotes the normal mode,
whereas black denotes the critical mode.
28 Wang ST and Lu LY
exponentially with depth and behaved as a typical
characteristic of the fundamental Rayleigh wave mode.
Figure 6c shows the eigendisplacement of the fundamental
mode at critical phase velocity c = 1.6 km/s , similar to that
in Figure 6b with a greater penetration depth. Figure 6d
shows the eigendisplacements for the different modes at
phase velocity c = 1.6 km/s . The energy was primarily
concentrated in the first layer and decayed exponentially
from z = 5 km . The eigendisplacement characteristics
shown in Figure 6d are typical for normal modes when the
phase velocity is less than 2 km/s.
At c = 2 km/s , corresponding to the critical refraction
of the SV wave in the first layer at z = 5 km , the horizontal
eigendisplacement in the second layer decayed
exponentially, as shown in Figure 6c. For the vertical
eigendisplacement, an additional linear term exists owing
to the presence of an inhomogeneous P-wave.
Consequently, it appears closer to a linear function than to
an exponential one. Figure 6f and g shows the
eigendisplacements at phase velocities c = 2.2 km/s and
c = 2.4 km/s , respectively. They exhibited the typical
characteristics of normal modes for 2 km/s < c < 3 km/s.
The energy is primarily concentrated in the first and
second layers and decays exponentially in the bottom half-
space.
In contrast to the SH system, if the phase velocity is
equal to the P-wave velocity of the first layer (2.5 km/s),
the transfer matrix also exhibits a singularity. Figure 6h
shows the eigendisplacement of the critical mode at
c = 2.5 km/s. This was associated with the critical
refraction of the P wave caused by the incident SV wave at
z = 5 km and the free surface at z = 0 km . In the first layer,
the horizontal eigendisplacement has a solution
represented by triangular and linear functions. The solution
for the vertical eigendisplacement follows a triangular
function with a constant. Because of the weak effect of the
linear function, the eigendisplacement characteristics
shown in Figure 6h are similar to those shown in Figure 6f
and g.
If the phase velocity was greater than 2.5 km/s , a
homogeneous P-wave was observed in the first layer. A
homogeneous P-wave is observed in the region of the
leaky mode in the dispersion branch, because the P-wave
velocity in the layer is typically greater than the S-wave
velocity in the bottom half-space. However, by setting a P-
wave velocity smaller than the S-wave velocity in the half-
space, a homogeneous P-wave can be observed in the
region of the normal mode (De Nil, 2005). Two P-guided
wave modes were observed from 2.5 km/s < c < 3 km/s .
They appeared to intersect with the SV-guided waves. The
eigendisplacements of the 7th mode at c = 2.9 km/s , as
Earthquake Science 37 (2024)
well as the 7th and 14th modes at c = 3 km/s , present
typical characteristics of P-guided waves in the first layer,
as shown in Figure 6i and j , respectively. The visual
crossover between the dispersion branches of the P- and
SV-guided waves may be due to the weak coupling
between the P- and SV-waves. If the phase velocity was
sufficiently high, the ray parameter approached zero. The
rays were nearly vertically incident. The conversion
coefficient between the P- and SV-waves tended to zero.
The P- and SV-waves become nearly independent (Dahlen
and Tromp, 1998). Consequently, two types of guided
waves were generated: a P-guided wave with energy
confined to the first layer, and an SV-guided wave with
energy confined to the first and second layers. The
Poisson’s ratio determines the relative velocities of the P
and SV-wave, which in turn affects the separation of the P
and SV waves. In general, the higher the Poisson’s ratio is,
the larger the difference between the P- and S-wave
velocities. P-guided waves are expected to be observed in
the higher-phase velocity range and are more independent
of SV-guided waves (Sun CY et al., 2021). All models in
this study had relatively high Poisson’s ratios. The P-
guided wave modes existed in all cases and appeared as
leaky modes, except in Model 3. P-guided waves can be
used to constrain the P-wave velocity structures during
surface-wave inversion (Li J et al., 2018; Li ZB et al.,
2021, 2022).
The critical mode at c = 3 km/s corresponds to the
critical refraction of the SV-waves impinging on the
interface of the lower half-space. As shown in Figure 6j,
the horizontal eigendisplacement of the critical mode
decays exponentially in the bottom half-space, whereas the
vertical displacement remains constant with increasing
depth because it has a solution with an exponential
function plus a constant. Leaky modes can be observed if
the phase velocity is higher than 3 km/s (e.g., Shi CW et
al., 2022). In this velocity range, a part of the energy of the
SV-waves in the second layer leaks into the bottom half-
space as a homogeneous plane wave. The roots of the
dispersion equation are no longer real within the (+, +)
Riemann sheet but are complex within the (+, –) Riemann
sheet (Phinney, 1961).
4.3. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of the
critical mode in the model with a low-velocity layer.
Figure 7 shows the eigenvalues and eigendisplacements
of the SH wave in Model 4, in which a low-velocity layer
is present. In contrast to Models 2 and 3, the high-
frequency limit of the fundamental mode is no longer the
S-wave velocity of the top layer but that of the low-
velocity layer. Figure 7b shows the eigendisplacement of
the modes at c = 1.6 km/s . This is a typical characteristic
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY 29

(a) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 (b) c=1.6 km/s

3.0 0
Phase velocity (km/s)

2.5
5

Depth (km)
2.0 0

10
1.5

1.0
15
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

(c) c=2 km/s (d)

0 0

5 5
Depth (km)

Depth (km)
10 10

15 15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0.35 0.46 0.58 0.70 0.81 0.92
Mode index Frequency (Hz)

(e) c=2.6 km/s (f) c=3 km/s

0 0

5 5
Depth (km)

Depth (km)

10 10

15 15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Mode index Mode index

Figure 7. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of SH wave in Model 3. (a) Phase velocity of a Love wave. (b) and (c) are the
eigendisplacement of modes at phase velocities of 1.6 and 2 km/s, respectively. (d) Eigendisplacement associated with the
eigenvalues denoted by green dots in (a). (e) and (f) are the eigendisplacement of modes at phase velocities of 2.6 and 3 km/s,
respectively.

of the eigendisplacement for a phase velocity range of or trapped wave. Therefore, if both the source and receiver
1 km/s < c < 2 km/s . In addition to the lower mode at are located at the surface, it is difficult to receive higher
lower frequencies, the higher mode behaved as a guided modes with velocities lower than 2 km/s, particularly in
wave whose energy was confined to a low velocity. As the mid- to high-frequency range. The received modes at
shown in Figure 7b, from the fundamental mode to the the surface are primarily guided modes with velocities
higher modes, the energy in the first layer gradually greater than or equal to 2 km/s, as illustrated by the
decreases and is concentrated in the lower velocity layer. eigendisplacements in Figure 7c–e. This is also illustrated
Significant energy was observed only for the fundamental by the numerical results (Luo YH et al., 2010).
and first overtones in the first layer, primarily because of Figure 7c shows the eigendisplacement of the critical
the tunneling effect at z = 5 km in the low-frequency mode at c = 2 km/s . Compared to the typical normal
range. The energy in the first layer and bottom half-space mode, the distinctive feature of the critical mode is that
gradually vanishes in higher modes. The energy evident energy can be observed in the top layer, and the
concentration in the low-velocity layer is a typical guided eigendisplacement of the critical mode remains constant in
30 Wang ST and Lu LY
this layer. This implies that, at the critical refraction, the
guided waves in the low-velocity layer also radiate energy
to the top layer. The eigendisplacement remains a
frequency-independent constant in the top layer and
rapidly decays to zero in the bottom half-space. The top
layer behaves like an open half-space upward, which is the
reason we exchanged the definition of the up- and down-
going waves of the first layer in Equation (26), as
described in Section 3.2.2. If the phase velocity is greater
than c = 2 km/s and less than c = 3 km/s, the
eigendisplacement in the first layer, which behaves as a
constant at c = 2 km/s , gradually transitions into a
triangular function, as shown in Figure 7e, where the
eigendisplacement at c = 2.6 km/s is given. The
eigendisplacement shown in Figure 7e was concentrated in
the first and second layers and decayed exponentially in
the bottom half-space, exhibiting typical characteristics of
the normal mode.
Figure 7f shows the eigendisplacement of the critical
mode, where the phase velocity is equal to the S-wave
velocity in the bottom half-space (3 km/s). The
characteristics of the first and second layers were similar to
those shown in Figure 7e. The main difference is that the
energy of the critical mode does not decay with depth and
remains constant in the bottom half-space.
Near the critical mode at c = 2 km/s , at frequencies
higher than 0.3 Hz, a segment exists along the dispersion
branches where the gradient change of phase velocity is
small, as shown by the green dots in Figure 7a. These
eigenvalues represent the SV-guided waves that undergo
back-and-forth reflections in the first layer. Figure 7d
shows the eigendisplacements associated with the
eigenvalues denoted by the green dots in Figure 7a .
Although these eigenvalues are close to those of the
critical mode, the eigendisplacements of these modes do
not remain constant in the first layer. Compared to the
normal modes shown in Figure 7e, the eigendisplacements
in Figure 7d exhibited a frequency-independent feature in
the first layer. This is due to the solotone effect in the first
layer (Kennett and Kerry, 1979; Lapwood and Usami,
1981). These SH-guided waves can be understood as the
constructive interference of the SH plane waves in the first
layer, which leak energy into the second layer as leaky
modes.
Figure 8 shows the eigenvalues and
eigendisplacements of the P-SV system in Model 4. The
characteristics of the Rayleigh wave dispersion curve for a
model with a low-velocity layer are of concern to many
researchers because they are often encountered in practice.
Earthquake Science 37 (2024)
Figure 8a shows the dispersion curves of the Rayleigh
wave mode. Mode kissing can be observed if the
frequency exceeds a given value, such as 0.6 Hz for Model
4. Zhang BX and Lu LY (2002) studied this phenomenon
based on the energy distribution in each mode. Liu XF et
al. (2009) investigated this phenomenon via numerical
simulations. This is likely due to the interaction between
the two waves propagating independently. These are the
SV-guided waves within the low-velocity layer and free-
surface Rayleigh waves. At frequencies greater than 0.6 Hz,
the phase velocities of the free-surface Rayleigh wave are
similar to those of the classic Rayleigh wave propagating
in the supposed half-space formed by the top layer. These
phase velocities are visually a straight line connected by
the red dots shown in Figure 8a, because the classic
Rayleigh wave in half-space is independent of frequency.
The dispersion branches of the SV-guided wave pass
through this straight line.
At frequencies less than 0.6 Hz, the modes with
maximum energy at the surface are indicated by red dots.
Figure 8c shows the eigendisplacements corresponding to
the eigenvalues denoted by the red dots in Figure 8a. At
frequencies less than 0.6 Hz, a significant energy
distribution can be observed in the top layer and the low-
velocity layer, exhibiting characteristics of free surface
Rayleigh and SV-guided waves. This implies that the
inhomogeneous P- and SV-waves emitted from the surface
radiate into the low-velocity layer. As the frequency
increases, the energy concentrates towards the surface.
Starting from the 5th mode (approximately 0.6 Hz), the
eigendisplacements behave as free-surface Rayleigh
waves, and the phase velocities of the modes with
maximum energy are distributed along the visually straight
line.
In seismic exploration, the measured dispersion curve
extracted from the data at the surface is formed by the
curve that connects the red dots in Figure 8a, and “jumps”
between different modes. The measured mode is referred
to as the “effective mode” (Foti, 2000) or the “R mode”
(FanYH et al., 2007). Wu B (2016) referred to this mode
as the physically meaningful “fundamental” mode. This is
an extension of the classical Rayleigh-wave mode. In
contrast, the fundamental mode (labeled 0 in Figure 8a),
which is formed by the lowest velocities for a given
frequency, does not behave as an extension of the classic
Rayleigh wave mode at high frequencies.
Figure 8b shows the eigendisplacements of the critical
mode at c = 1.5 km/s , that is, the eigendisplacement
associated with the eigenvalues given by the intersections
between the black dashed line (representing c = 1.5 km/s )
and the dispersion branches in Figure 8a. The first two
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY 31

(a) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 (b) c=1.5 km/s

3.0 0
1
Phase velocity (km/s)
2.5
5

Depth (km)
2.0 0

10
1.5

1.0
15
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

(c) (d) c=2 km/s

0 0

5 5
Depth (km)

Depth (km)
10 10

15 15
0.05 0.12 0.24 0.35 0.44 0.50 0.60 0.72 0.84 0.95 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Frequency (Hz) Mode index

(e) c=2.6 km/s (d) c=3 km/s

0 0

5 5
Depth (km)

Depth (km)

10 10

15 15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Mode index Mode index

Figure 8. Eigenvalues and eigendisplacement of P-SV wave in Model 4. (a) Phase velocity of a Rayleigh wave. (b)
Eigendisplacement at the phase velocity of 1.5 km/s. (c) Eigendisplacement associated with the eigenvalues denoted by red
dots in (a). (d)–(f) are eigendisplacements at phase velocities of 2, 2.6, 3 km/s, respectively.

eigendisplacements, labeled as the 0th mode, are nonzero solution with a linear function of the SV wave in
associated with the eigenvalues of the fundamental mode the first layer. Consequently, the vertical eigendisplace-
around the red dots in Figure 8a. They exhibit the ment in the first layer exhibits a shape that is closer to a
characteristics of a free-surface Rayleigh wave, with the linear function. However, in the bottom half-space, the
energy primarily concentrated in the first and second eigendisplacement rapidly decreased to zero.
layers, particularly near the surface. The energies of the When the phase velocity is greater than 2 km/s , the
other modes, labeled 1 to 6, were primarily concentrated distribution of the eigendisplacement in the first layer
within the low-velocity layer. gradually changes from nearly linear to nearly sinusoidal,
Figure 8d shows the eigendisplacements of the critical as shown in Figure 8e, where the eigendisplacement at
mode at c = 2 km/s . In contrast to the SH system shown in c = 2.6 km/s is given. In addition, the attenuation in the
Figure 7c, energy can be observed in both the first and bottom half-space becomes slow, and significant energy is
second layers of the P-SV system rather than being observed in the bottom half-space for the lower modes.
confined within the low-velocity layer. This can be Figure 8f shows the eigendisplacement of the critical
attributed to inhomogeneous P-waves, which allow for a mode at c = 3 km/s. Their distributions in the first and
32 Wang ST and Lu LY
second layers were similar to those at c = 2.6 km/s , as
shown in Figure 8e. The main difference is that, for the
critical mode, the eigendisplacement in the bottom half-
space remains constant and does not decay with depth.
5. On the zero frequency
In addition to the critical mode, where the phase
velocity is equal to the velocity of the body waves of the
layer, there is a special zero-frequency point.
At the zero-frequency, the solution of Equation (23) in
the time domain is similar to that of Equation (26), which
can be expressed as a linear function of time, that is,
T (t) = C1 + C2 t . Considering that displacement cannot
increase indefinitely with time, C2 t vanishes. Then, the
solution of Equation (23) is a static displacement. The
calculation of the static displacement field at zero
frequency can be found in the study by Xie XB and Yao
ZX (1989). When calculating the eigenvalues and
eigenfunctions, defining the phase velocity of a static field
at zero frequency is challenging. An alternative is to
analyze the limits of the phase velocity and eigenfunction
as the frequency approaches zero.
When the frequency approaches zero, the exponential
decay in the half-space is extremely slow and the
penetration depth is large. The horizontal layered model is
governed mainly by the behavior of the bottom half-space
and degenerates into a homogeneous half-space model. As
analyzed in Section 4.2, for the Love wave, the zero-
frequency limit is the S-wave velocity of the bottom half-
space, and for the Rayleigh wave, it is the classic Rayleigh
wave phase velocity of the bottom half-space. This
demonstrates the importance of calculating the critical
modes, particularly the critical mode of the SH wave in the
homogeneous half-space, which provides a theoretical
basis for estimating the limit of Love waves in a layered
medium when the frequency tends to zero. As discussed in
Section 4.1, in a homogeneous half-space, a critical mode
exists with a phase velocity equal to the S-wave velocity.
When the frequency approaches zero, considering the
solutions of the eigendisplacement in Equation (27) for
each layer, whether it is a homogeneous (trigonometric
function) or an inhomogeneous (exponential function)
plane wave, the eigendisplacement tends to be constant, as
demonstrated by the fundamental-mode eigendisplacement
shown in Figure 3c.
6. Discussion and conclusions
In this study, the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the
critical modes, where the phase velocity is equal to the
Earthquake Science 37 (2024)
body wave velocity in the layer, were investigated based
on the theoretical framework of the GRT. By embedding
the linear solution of the wave equation at zero vertical
wavenumber into the framework of the GRT theory, the
singularity of the critical modes is addressed. The
singularity arises in the original GRT theory matrix
formulation when the phase velocity is the same as the
body-wave velocity of each layer and the general solution
of the wave equation at zero vertical wavenumbers is not
considered. This singularity makes the secular function
close to zero near the critical phase velocity at any given
frequency. Wu B and Chen XF (2016) exclude the roots
that cause the secular function to vanish as branch points
without further explanation. The secular function is zero
for the critical mode because the solution is obtained by
modifying the matrix formulation and considering the
linear solution of the wave equation at the critical phase
velocity. These critical modes correspond to critical
reflection, transmission, and grazing incidence
phenomena, which are closely related to head waves
(Červený, 1971), apparent head waves (Zhang J et al.,
2002), and downward head waves (Wang BW and Zhao
HR, 1986). The characteristics of the critical mode
eigenfunctions were studied for homogeneous half-space
and layered models. In contrast to the normal mode in
which the eigenfunctions decay exponentially in the
bottom half-space of the horizontally multilayered model,
the eigenfunctions are constant in the bottom half-space
and do not decay with depth for the critical mode whose
phase velocity equal to S velocity in the bottom half-space.
This is because the horizontally layered model is an open
system with the bottom half-space tending to infinity.
Bounded by the phase velocity of the critical mode,
that is, the body wave velocity of each layer, the dispersion
curves can be divided into different regions. The
characteristics of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for
the different velocity regions were investigated. The
different characteristics of the different velocity regions
are related to the reflection and transmission paths caused
by body waves incident at different angles within the
layers. Different phase velocity regions reflect different
ray distributions and different phase velocity regions
exhibit different P- and S-wave behaviors, such as
propagation, evanescence, and trapped characteristics
(Kennett, 2023). Rays can be classified according to their
incidence angle (e.g., incidence less than the critical angle,
critical incidence, and supercritical incidence).
Subsequently, the relationship between the ray paths and
modes within different velocity ranges should be
investigated. These issues will be addressed in a separate
study.
Earthquake Science 37 (2024) Wang ST and Lu LY
Although seismic wave propagation in horizontally
layered media is a classical problem, analyzing the
characteristics of normal and leaky modes in such simple
models is still of theoretical and practical significance.
First, traditional surface-wave inversion is based on
dispersion curves, which require the identification of the
mode branches. Theoretical dispersion curves of the
predicted model were fitted to the observed values.
However, two potential risks arise during this process. One
is mode misidentification (Gao LL et al., 2014, 2016), and
the other is missing modes in the calculations for
theoretical dispersion (Shi CW et al., 2022). Mode
misidentification is particularly evident when “mode
kissing” occurs between two branches. The missing mode
was related to the numerical treatment used to calculate the
theoretical dispersion curves. Both the mode misidenti-
fication of the measured dispersion curves and the missing
mode of the predicted dispersion curves would theoreti-
cally introduce significant errors into the inversion. The
inversion method, which compares the theoretical and
observed spectra in the frequency-velocity domain, is an
alternative to surface wave inversion that does not require
knowledge of the dispersion curves. However, it is
essential to know the mode interaction, characteristics of
the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of modes (normal
modes and leaky modes), and their spectral characteristics
in the frequency-velocity domain (Kennett et al., 2023).
The inversion of the spectra-based method avoids the
issues associated with inversion based on dispersion
curves.
Second, with the development of a three-dimensional
array, it is possible to directly measure the energy
distribution of the modes along depth (Meyers et al.,
2019). Studying the distribution of eigenfunctions at
different depths aids our understanding of the relationship
between modes and ray paths and the sensitivity of modes
to depth-dependent parameters. This lays the foundation
for directly inferring medium parameters based on mode
eigenfunctions (Glubokovskikh et al., 2021; Huff et al.,
2021).
Acknowledgment
This study was supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (No. U1839209). We would
like to thank the associate editor and two anonymous
reviewers for their valuable suggestions and comments,
which helped us refine the manuscript.
33
Conflict of interest
The authors affirm that they have no financial and
personal relationships with any individuals or organization
that could have potentially influenced the work presented
in this paper.
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