Nonlinear waves in weakly dispersive random media

The propagation of nonlinear waves in random media is an important aspect of nonlinear wave theory and has a long and informative history. This paper describes the basic ideas of the approaches that have been applied. The average-field method, which has been used most extensively in linear problems, is considered. This approach is then shown to be incorrect as far as nonlinear processes are concerned. Finally, a new scheme is proposed average-form the method, which allows consistent evolution equations to be obtained for nonlinear waves in random media.