BEYOND RESONANCE1

In the frequency domain the boundary condition for the pressure at the basilar membrane has the shape of a homogeneous equation. We solved this equation as an equation in the complex plane and conceived the solution as a ‘free field ’ description of the pressure. This analytical description models a sink at the point of resonance. After that we applied the method of images and constructed the pressure distribution in a strip-like model of the cochlea. It appeared that after the point of resonance the phase tends to constant values. However, for most applications it is sufficient to restrict ourselves to the analytical solution