Abstract

Small-amplitude inhomogeneous plane waves propagating in any direction in a homogeneously deformed Hadamard material are considered. Conditions for circular polarization are established. The analysis relies on the use of complex vectors (or bivectors) to describe the slowness and the polarization of the waves. Generally, homogeneous circularly polarized plane waves may propagate in only two directions, the directions of the acoustic axes, in a homogeneously deformed Hadamard material. For inhomogeneous circularly polarized plane waves, the number of possibilities is far greater. They include an infinity of ‘transverse waves’, as well as ‘longitudinal waves’, and the superposition of transverse waves and longitudinal waves, where ‘transverse ’ and ‘longitudinal ’ are used in the bivector sense. Each and every possibility of circular polarization is examined in turn, and explicit examples of solutions are given in every case. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. 1.