{
  "abstract": "We compute the first-order incoherent backscattering cross-section of a rough surface over a half-space with randomly fluctuating permittivity, when the two random fields are correlated, so that surface and volume scattering are not additive. A non-orthogonal coordinate transformation flattens the rough boundary and turns the geometric roughness into volume sources of the same Helmholtz equation as the dielectric fluctuations, propagated by the same Green's function: both mechanisms and their interference follow from one calculation, with no equivalent surface currents and no prescription for the field discontinuity. The geometric part of the amplitude reproduces the small-perturbation kernel exactly, for any incidence angle, permittivity and profile function. The interference term is obtained for both co-polarized channels, with an explicit surface-dielectric correlation coefficient. The departure from additivity reaches twenty percent at full correlation, changes sign with that coefficient, and is governed by a balance condition and a coherence condition on the depth of the correlated layer. It carries no angular signature and shifts the co-polarized ratio by less than a tenth of a decibel, so an additive inversion absorbs it, biasing the retrieved amplitude of the dielectric fluctuations by tens of percent.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.39897",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Mariano Franco"
    },
    {
      "name": "Esteban Calzetta"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2w3rq0wc89n2y.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.39897",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "2w3rq0wc89n2y",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.39897",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Electromagnetic Scattering and Analysis"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215035458",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.39897",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-30",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2w3rq0wc89n2y.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:25:49Z",
      "native_id": "2609.39897",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.39897"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Non-additive surface and volume backscattering from a rough interface over a correlated random medium",
  "title_text": "Non-additive surface and volume backscattering from a rough interface over a correlated random medium",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:25:49Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2w3rq0wc89n2y",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}