An isotropic sound field model composed of a finite number of plane waves

Abstract

Isotropy is a fundamental property of a diffuse sound field. Although several studies have proposed an isotropy indicator to quantify the extent of the isotropy of a sound field, what is not yet very clear is how to interpret the quantified isotropy using these indicators. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the isotropy by (i) modifying an existing isotropy indicator based on the spherical harmonic expansion and (ii) presenting isotropic sound field model composed of a finite number of plane waves. Theoretical and numerical investigations show that a limited-degree isotropy can be established by using the isotropy indicator and the isotropic sound field model.