Gaussian beam decomposition of high frequency wave fields using expectation–maximization

A new numerical method for approximating highly oscillatory wave fields as a superposition of Gaussian beams is presented. The method estimates the number of beams and their parameters automatically. This is achieved by an expectation–maximization algorithm that fits real, positive Gaussians to the energy of the highly oscillatory wave fields and its Fourier transform. Beam parameters are further refined by an optimization procedure that minimizes the difference between the Gaussian beam superposition and the highly oscillatory wave field in the energy norm.