The failure mode of correlation focusing for model velocity estimation

We analyze the correlation focusing objective functional introduced by van Leeuwen and Mulder to avoid the cycle-skipping problem in full waveform inversion. While some encouraging numerical experiments were reported in the transmission setting, we explain why the method cannot be expected to work for general reflection data. We characterize the form that the adjoint source needs to take for model velocity updates to generate a time delay or a time advance. We show that the adjoint source of correlation focusing takes this desired form in the case of a single primary reflection, but not otherwise. Ultimately, failure owes to the specific form of the normalization present in the correlation focusing objective.