On optical properties of nonspherical inhomogeneous particles

To solve the problem of light scattering by multilayer scatterers of an arbitrary axisymmetric shape, a separation of variables method that involves special scalar potentials and their expansions in spherical functions is developed. The approach is shown to yield highly exact results even for particles that have 100 layers or more. A graphic library that illustrates the optical properties of layered and homogeneous (with an effective refractive index) spheroids, spheres, and Chebyshev particles of various shapes and sizes (about 650 figures) is created and is put on the Internet. It is noted that the linear polarization of radiation transmitted forward through a polydisperse medium containing partially oriented nonspherical porous particles strongly depends on the structure of scatterers. It is shown that the difference between the degrees of polarization of layered and corresponding homogeneous scatterers can exceed 200–300%.     

Polarization-mode dispersion measurement by an optical time-domain reflectometer with polarimetry assuming backscattering by randomly oriented nonspherical particles

In previous work on polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) measurement with an optical time-domain reflectometer with polarimetry (p-OTDR), scatterers were assumed to be a cloud of small spherical particles in a fiber. We have found that the p-OTDR waveforms were fitted well by modified Mueller matrices, assuming scattering by a cloud of nonspherical particles. We realized a PMD measurement based on the p-OTDR Jones matrix eigenanalysis (JME) method. The measured PMD was consistent with that of JME standard measurement with transmission-type polarimetry.     

Measurement of subcellular texture by optical Gabor-like filtering with a digital micromirror device

We demonstrate an optical Fourier processing method to quantify object texture arising from subcellular feature orientation within unstained living cells. Using a digital micromirror device as a Fourier spatial filter, we measured cellular responses to two-dimensional optical Gabor-like filters optimized to sense orientation of nonspherical particles, such as mitochondria, with a width around 0.45 microm. Our method showed significantly rounder structures within apoptosis-defective cells lacking the proapoptotic mitochondrial effectors Bax and Bak, when compared with Bax/Bak expressing cells functional for apoptosis, consistent with reported differences in mitochondrial shape in these cells. By decoupling spatial frequency resolution from image resolution, this method enables rapid analysis of nonspherical submicrometer scatterers in an undersampled large field of view and yields spatially localized morphometric parameters that improve the quantitative assessment of biological function.     

随机介质中的矢量辐射传输理论

本文讨论了极化电磁波在随机介质中多次散射,传输和热辐射的斯托克斯矢量的辐射传输理论。其中包括随机分布离散的球形和非球形粒子的矢量辐射传输方程,离散坐标-特征分析法,付利叶变换,迭代法等数值解。讨论了非球形粒子的穆勒矩阵。并研究了密集分布的散射粒子介质的辐射传输理论,考虑了密集粒子散射的相干性,计算了有效传播常数。理论及数值结果与实验作了很好的比较。     

An Ellipsoidal Model for Small Multilayer Particles

This paper presents an ellipsoidal model that is constructed for small layered nonspherical particles and methods for constructing “effective” multilayer ellipsoids, the light-scattering properties of which would be close to the corresponding properties of original particles. In the case of axisymmetric particles, prolate or oblate spheroids (ellipsoids of revolution) are implied. Numerical calculations of the polarizability and scattering cross sections of small layered nonspherical particles, including nonconfocal (similar) spheroids, Chebyshev particles, and pseudospheroids, are performed by different approximate and rigorous methods. Approximate approaches involve the use of an ellipsoidal model, in which the polarizability of a layered particle is determined in two ways. In the first case, the polarizability is calculated in the approximation of confocal spheroids, while, in the second case, it is sought as a linear combination of the polarizabilities of embedded spheroids proportionally to the volumes of layers. Among rigorous methods, the extended boundary conditions method and the generalized separation of variables method are applied. On the basis of a comparison of the results obtained with rigorous and approximate approaches, their drawbacks and advantages are discussed.     

含核椭球粒子后向散射特性研究

基于T矩阵方法,给出了随机取向、轴对称、含核椭球粒子的散射计算方法,散射体的核和外壳均可为非球形粒子,内层粒子和外层粒子可以为同心也可为不同心,整个粒子具有轴对称性.以含核椭球粒子为模型,计算了含有吸收性内核的水凝物气溶胶的散射特性,分析了核的大小、形状以及位置对后向散射的影响.计算结果表明,后向散射对内核的形状、大小...     

Effect of radiation on dust particles in orbital resonances

The effect of electromagnetic radiation on the dynamics of arbitrarily shaped cosmic dust particles is investigated. The paper concentrates on the motion of dust grains near commensurability resonances with a planet—mean-motion resonances—and possible capture of the grains in the resonances. A particle is in resonance with a planet when the ratio of the mean motions of the two objects is a ratio of two small integers.

The most fundamental properties of the orbital evolution of spherical dust particles in the mean-motion resonances are shortly rederived: the solar wind effect is also included and the existing result is improved. The results for spherical particles are compared with the detailed numerical calculations for nonspherical particles. It is shown that the fundamental results valid for spherical grains do not hold, in general, for nonspherical particles. While spherical particles are always characterized by the secular decrease of the semi-major axes near mean-motion resonances, this may not be true for nonspherical particles. Nonspherical grains may exhibit an increase of the semi-major axes before capturing in the mean-motion resonances. This is caused by the effect of electromagnetic radiation on nonspherical dust grains. The eccentricities of spherical particles in the exterior resonances approach a limiting value, but nonspherical grains may not follow this behaviour. The interior resonances are characterized by a systematic decrease of eccentricity for spheres, but various behaviours exist in the case of irregularly shaped particles.

The motion of a nonspherical dust particle under the action of electromagnetic radiation may be characterized by a small change of the semi-major axis during a long-time interval, but the particle is not captured in any mean-motion resonance. This kind of motion does not exist for spherical grains.     

Acoustic anechoic layers with singly periodic array of scatterers: Computational methods,absorption mechanisms,and optimal design

The acoustic properties of anechoic layers with a singly periodic array of cylindrical scatterers are investigated. A method combined plane wave expansion and finite element analysis is extended for out-of-plane incidence. The reflection characteristics of the anechoic layers with cavities and locally resonant scatterers are discussed. The backing is a steel plate followed by an air half space. Under this approximate zero transmission backing condition, the reflection reduction is induced by the absorption enhancement. The absorption mechanism is explained by the scattering/absorption cross section of the isolated scatterer. Three types of resonant modes which can induce efficient absorption are revealed. Due to the fact that the frequencies of the resonant modes are related to the size of the scatterers, anechoic layers with scatterers of mixed size can broaden the absorption band. A genetic optimization algorithm is adopted to design the anechoic layer with scatterers of mixed size at a desired frequency band from 2 kHz to l0 kHz for normal incidence, and the influence of the incident angle is also discussed.     

Microwave backscattering by nonspherical ice particles at 5.6 GHz using second-order perturbation series

Scattering of microwaves by an ensemble of nonspherical ice particles is studied using a scattering model based on a second-order perturbation series at 5.6 GHz (C-band). Particle shapes are defined using a Gaussian random sphere geometry. Particle inhomogeneity is taken into account using three different effective-medium approximations: Maxwell–Garnett, Bruggeman, and Coherent Potential mixing rules. By systematically varying particle size, liquid water content, Gaussian shape parameters, and internal structure, it is found that liquid water content is the most important factor for the co-polarized backscattering; the shape is relatively unimportant. For depolarized backscattering, the shape is of fundamental importance, although the other factors are significant too. Surprisingly, the type of nonsphericity is found to be important for depolarization even for scatterers that are in the Rayleigh region: elongated targets depolarize clearly stronger than more irregular shapes. This finding seems not to be strongly size dependent, at least for size parameters from 0.0059 to 0.47, and indicates that the accurate modeling of shape is important for polarization quantities even in the Rayleigh region.     

随机取向非球形沙尘气溶胶粒子的光学特性

利用离散偶极子近似法分析了一种随机取向旋转椭球体沙尘气溶胶粒子模型在尺度参数变化范围为0.1~23时(波长0.55!m对应有效半径为0.01~2!m)的光学特性,研究了沙尘粒子非球形性程度对其光学特性的影响,并考察了非球形粒子的随机取向能否用等体积球体来代替。就随机取向单分散和多分散旋转椭球体沙尘气溶胶而言,粒子非球形特征越明显,消光效率因子、不对称因子和单次散射反照率基本上偏离其等体积球体越大;对于相同的非球形,不对称因子偏离其等体积球体的相对偏差要比消光效率因子和单次散射反照率要大。非球形粒子的随机取向并不能使其光学特性严格等效为其等体积球体的光学特性。如果粒子形状偏离球体较小,则非球形粒子的随机取向的平均效果能使其消光效率因子、不对称因子和单次散射反照率近似用等体积球体的对应光学参量来等效;而如果粒子形状偏离球形较大,仅有单次散射反照率可以近似用等体积球体的单次散射反照率来等效,例如,轴半径比为16的旋转椭球体沙尘粒子的单次散射反照率偏离其等体积球体仅在3%以内。     

Scalar Green’s function for penetrable or dielectric scatterers

In a series of former papers, we developed the so-called self-consistent Green’s function formalism (SGFF) for acoustic and light scattering on impenetrable or ideal metallic scatterers. With the paper at hand we will extend the application of this formalism to penetrable or dielectric scatterers. The concept of the Green’s function of the third kind is utilized which was introduced first by Tai. It must be slightly generalized to allow the treatment of nonspherical scatterers. The following considerations reveal the conceptual equivalence between the Green’s function of the third kind and Waterman’s T-matrix method. It is another goal of this paper to demonstrate that the conventional boundary and volume integral equations can be also derived within the developed Green’s function formalism.     

On the existence of the thermodynamic limit for classical systems with nonspherical potentials

It is shown, that the configurational partition function for a classical system of molecules interacting with nonspherical pair potential is proportionals to the configurational partition function for a system of particles interacting with temperature-dependent spherical k-body potentials (k ?2). Therefore, the thermodynamic limit for nonspherical molecules exists if the effective k-body interaction is stable and tempered. A number of criteria for the nonspherical potential are developed which ensure these properties. In case the nonsphericity is small in a certain sense, stability and temperedness of the angle-averaged nonspherical potential are sufficient to ensure thermodynamic behaviour.     

Competition between unlimited and limited energy growth in a two-dimensional time-dependent billiard

Some dynamical properties for a dissipative time-dependent Lorentz gas are studied. We assume that the size of the scatterers change periodically in time. We show that for some combination of the control parameters the particles come to a complete stop between the scatterers, but for some other cases, the average velocity grows unbounded. This is the first time that the unlimited energy growth is observed in a dissipative system. Finally, we study the behavior of the average velocity as a function of the number of collisions and we show that the system is scaling invariant with scaling exponents well defined.     

Free Path Lengths in Quasi Crystals

The Lorentz gas is a model for a cloud of point particles (electrons) in a distribution of scatterers in space. The scatterers are often assumed to be spherical with a fixed diameter d, and the point particles move with constant velocity between the scatterers, and are specularly reflected when hitting a scatterer. There is no interaction between point particles. An interesting question concerns the distribution of free path lengths, i.e. the distance a point particle moves between the scattering events, and how this distribution scales with scatterer diameter, scatterer density and the distribution of the scatterers. It is by now well known that in the so-called Boltzmann–Grad limit, a Poisson distribution of scatterers leads to an exponential distribution of free path lengths, whereas if the scatterer distribution is periodic, the free path length distribution asymptotically behaves as a power law.     

Hot Scatterers and Tracers for the Transfer of Heat in Collisional Dynamics

We introduce stochastic models for the transport of heat in systems described by local collisional dynamics. The dynamics consists of tracer particles moving through an array of hot scatterers describing the effect of heat baths at fixed temperatures. Those models have the structure of Markov renewal processes. We study their ergodic properties in details and provide a useful formula for the cumulant generating function of the time integrated energy current. We observe that out of thermal equilibrium, the generating function is not analytic. When the set of temperatures of the scatterers is fixed by the condition that in average no energy is exchanged between the scatterers and the system, different behaviours may arise. When the tracer particles are allowed to travel freely through the whole array of scatterers, the temperature profile is linear. If the particles are locked in between scatterers, the temperature profile becomes nonlinear. In both cases, the thermal conductivity is interpreted as a frequency of collision between tracers and scatterers.     

Propagation of light through a monolayer of particles: Analysis of phase and coherent transmittance

Phase variations of a wave transmitted through a monolayer of spherical scatterers are studied as functions of size, optical constants, and particle concentration for light incident normally to the surface of the layer. The analysis is performed in the quasi-crystal approximation of the theory of multiple scattering of waves and in the single scattering approximation. The results obtained allow one to estimate the limits of applicability of the single scattering approximation to layers with partial ordering of scatterers in analysis of the transmitted wave phase. The variations of the phase of the wave in the range of the parameters where the coherent component of the transmitted beam exhibits quenching are studied. It is shown that small variations in the refractive index of the particles may give rise to strong variations of the phase. This effect can be used for phase modulation of light beams, e.g., in liquid crystal films controlled by an electric (or magnetic) field.     

T-matrix method for electromagnetic scattering from scatterers with complex structure

We describe a T-matrix program for light scattering calculations from particles with complex structure. The code treats the cases of homogeneous, layered and composite scatterers. These results are combined with basic results concerning the scattering by inhomogeneous scatterers and aggregates to apply to more general types of scatterers. Some numerical simulations are presented.     

Light scattering theories and computer codes

In aerosol science today light scattering simulations are regarded as an indispensable tool to develop new particle characterization techniques or in solving inverse light scattering problems. Light scattering theories and related computational methods have evolved rapidly during the past decade such that scattering computations for wavelength sized nonspherical scatterers can be easily performed. This significant progress has resulted from rapid advances in computational algorithms developed in this field and from improved computer hardware.In this paper a review of the recent progress of light scattering theories and available computational programs is presented. We will focus on exact theories and will not cover approximate methods such as geometrical optics. Short outlines of the various theories are given alongside with informations on their capabilities and restrictions.     

From the Liouville Equation to the Generalized Boltzmann Equation for Magnetotransport in the 2D Lorentz Model

We consider a system of non-interacting charged particles moving in two dimensions among fixed hard scatterers, and acted upon by a perpendicular magnetic field. Recollisions between charged particles and scatterers are unavoidable in this case. We derive from the Liouville equation for this system a generalized Boltzmann equation with infinitely long memory, but which still is analytically solvable. This kinetic equation has been earlier written down from intuitive arguments.     

On the applicability of a spherical basis for spheroidal layered scatterers

The applicability of an analog of the extended boundary condition method, which is popular in light-scattering theory, is studied in combination with the standard spherical basis for the solution of an electrostatic problem appearing for spheroidal layered scatterers the sizes of which are small as compared to the incident radiation wavelength. In the case of two or more layers, polarizability and other optical characteristics of particles in the far zone are shown to be undeterminable if the condition under which the appearing systems of linear equations for expansion coefficients of unknown fields are Fredholm systems solvable by the reduction method is broken. For two-layer spheroids with confocal boundaries, this condition is transformed into a simple restriction on the ratio of particle semiaxes a/b< $\sqrt 2 $ + 1. In the case of homogeneous particles, the solvability condition is that the radius of convergence of the internal-field expansion must exceed that of the expansion of an analog of the scattering field. Since homogeneous spheroids (ellipsoids) are unique particles inside which the electrostatic field is homogeneous, it is shown that the solution can be always found in this case. The obtained results make it possible to match in principle the results of theoretical and numerical determinations of the domain of applicability for the extended boundary condition method with a spherical basis for spheroidal scatterers.