# Waves in very thin layer

Elastic waves in the earth are described by the elastodynamic equations \begin{align} \rho \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial t^2} &= (2 \mu + \lambda) \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x^2} + \mu \left( \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial y^2} + \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial z^2} \right) + (\lambda+\mu) \left( \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial x \partial y} + \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial x \partial z} \right) \\ \rho \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial t^2} &= (2 \mu + \lambda) \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial y^2} + \mu \left( \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial z^2} \right) + (\lambda+\mu) \left( \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x \partial y} + \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial y \partial z} \right) \\ \rho \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial t^2} &= (2 \mu + \lambda) \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial z^2} + \mu \left( \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial y^2} \right) + (\lambda+\mu) \left( \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x \partial z} + \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial y \partial z} \right) \end{align}

Is it possible to have a very thin and stiff layer in a surrounding soft material? If yes, is it possible to approximate the thin layer by a thin film with free boundaries and a uniform displacement over the thickness direction ($$\partial / \partial z = 0$$)? In this case, the equations of motion become \begin{align} \rho \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial t^2} &= (2 \mu + \lambda) \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x^2} + \mu \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial y^2} + (\lambda+\mu) \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial x \partial y} \\ \rho \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial t^2} &= (2 \mu + \lambda) \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial y^2} + \mu \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial x^2} + (\lambda+\mu)\frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x \partial y} \\ \rho \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial t^2} &= \mu \left( \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 w}{\partial y^2} \right) \end{align} Do these equations describe a realistic case? Does this state have a specific name (like plane stress or antiplane shear ...)?

Usually when we talk about vertically layered media we use a plane wave $$\exp(i(\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{x}-wt))$$ trial solution (you can plug this in to confirm that it satisfies the PDE) and match boundary conditions at the interface of two layers to determine reflection and transmission coefficients. If you are not familiar with this, Aki and Richards (1980) is a good reference. See also the Zoeppritz equations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoeppritz_equations