Abstract:
For the case of the exterior of an arbitrary convex polygon, an asymptotic expression is obtained at the physical level of rigor for the nonspectral singularities closest to the axis $\operatorname{Im}k=0$ of Green's function for the Helmholtz equation $(\Delta+k^2)q=0$ (with Neumann boundary conditions). The validity of this asymptotic expression is verified in the limiting case of a segment by analyzing the exact solution obtained by separation of variables. A geometrical interpretation of the asymptotic equations for the eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator in terms of geometrical optics is proposed.