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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2011
In this paper we study the wave equation, in particular the propagation of discontinuities. Two problems are considered: diffraction of a normally incident plane pulse by a plane screen and diffraction of a spherical wave by the same screen. It is shown that when an incident wave front strikes the edge of the screen a diffracted wave front is produced. The discontinuities are precisely computed in a neighbourhood of the edge for a small time interval after the arrival of the incident wave front and a theorem of Hörmander on the propagation of singularities is used to obtain a globalresult.