Summary

I have shown that RTM is equivalent to generalized diffraction-stack migration. The generalized migration image at a trial imaging point is obtained by taking the dot-product of the appropriate focusing operator with the data. This is a generalization of simple diffraction-stack migration which sums the data over the appropriate hyperbola.

Figure: Generalized diffraction-stack migration operator (colored hyperbolas) which contains all events in the migration model, including multiples, diffractions and reflections.