In this paper we shall discuss the construction of formal short-wave asymp totic solutions of problems of mathematical physics. The topic is very broad. It can somewhat conveniently be divided into three parts: 1. Finding the short-wave asymptotics of a rather narrow class of problems, which admit a solution in an explicit form, via formulas that represent this solution. 2. Finding formal asymptotic solutions of equations that describe wave processes by basing them on some ansatz or other. We explain what 2 means. Giving an ansatz is knowing how to give a formula for the desired asymptotic solution in the form of a series or some expression containing a series, where the analytic nature of the terms of these series is indicated up to functions and coefficients that are undetermined at the first stage of consideration. The second stage is to determine these functions and coefficients using a direct substitution of the ansatz in the equation, the boundary conditions and the initial conditions. Sometimes it is necessary to use different ansiitze in different domains, and in the overlapping parts of these domains the formal asymptotic solutions must be asymptotically equivalent (the method of matched asymptotic expansions). The basis for success in the search for formal asymptotic solutions is a suitable choice of ansiitze. The study of the asymptotics of explicit solutions of special model problems allows us to "surmise" what the correct ansiitze are for the general solution."

The papers comprising this collection are directly or indirectly related to an important branch of mathematical physics - the mathematical theory of wave propagation and diffraction. The paper by V. M. Babich is concerned with the application of the parabolic-equation method (of Academician V. A. Fok and M. A, Leontovich) to the problem of the asymptotic behavior of eigenfunc tions concentrated in a neighborhood of a closed geodesie in a Riemannian space. The techniques used in this paper have been foeund useful in solving certain problems in the theory of open resonators. The topic of G. P. Astrakhantsev's paper is similar to that of the paper by V. M. Babich. Here also the parabolic-equation method is used to find the asymptotic solution of the elasticity equations which describes Love waves concentrated in a neighborhood of some surface ray. The paper of T. F. Pankratova is concerned with finding the asymptotic behavior of th~ eigenfunc tions of the Laplace operator from the exact solution for the surface of a triaxial ellipsoid and the re gion exterior to it. The first three papers of B. G. Nikolaev are somewhat apart from the central theme of the col lection; they treat the integral transforms with respect to associated Legendre functions of first kind and their applications. Examples of such applications are the use of this transform for the solution of integral equations with symmetrie kernels and for the solution of certain problems in the theory of electrical prospecting.

In this paper we shall discuss the construction of formal short-wave asymp totic solutions of problems of mathematical physics. The topic is very broad. It can somewhat conveniently be divided into three parts: 1. Finding the short-wave asymptotics of a rather narrow class of problems, which admit a solution in an explicit form, via formulas that represent this solution. 2. Finding formal asymptotic solutions of equations that describe wave processes by basing them on some ansatz or other. We explain what 2 means. Giving an ansatz is knowing how to give a formula for the desired asymptotic solution in the form of a series or some expression containing a series, where the analytic nature of the terms of these series is indicated up to functions and coefficients that are undetermined at the first stage of consideration. The second stage is to determine these functions and coefficients using a direct substitution of the ansatz in the equation, the boundary conditions and the initial conditions. Sometimes it is necessary to use different ansiitze in different domains, and in the overlapping parts of these domains the formal asymptotic solutions must be asymptotically equivalent (the method of matched asymptotic expansions). The basis for success in the search for formal asymptotic solutions is a suitable choice of ansiitze. The study of the asymptotics of explicit solutions of special model problems allows us to "surmise" what the correct ansiitze are for the general solution."