Model of light scattering by dust particles in the solar system: Applications to cometary comae and planetary regoliths

We analyze both the intensity and linear polarization of cosmic dust particles by using the physically exact superposition T-matrix method in a fixed orientation for various aggregates of spheres and DDA for the aggregates of Gaussian random spheres. We study both the spherical geometry (in cometary comae) and cylindrical slabs (for regoliths) up to 2000 monomers with size parameters less than ∼3. It is straightforward to produce the observed linear polarization in both geometries while the typically convex and strong opposition spike seems to require wide regolith geometries. The dependence of various parameters on light scattering has also been studied in a rather detailed form. In applications to the cometary polarization we can fit the data in six colors from UV to the J band at a very good accuracy. We, however, emphasize that we do not claim our model to be unique. The most important parameters here are the refractive index and the size distribution of submicron particles. Rest of the parameters has only a minor role. We also found that it is critically important to use several realizations from any assumed particle geometry model because corresponding scattering characteristics can vary quite a lot.     

Experimental and theoretical analyses on the microwave backscattering ability and differential radar reflectivity of non-spherical hydrometeors

This paper experimentally and theoretically examines the scattering properties of simulated non-spherical hydrometeors including water oblates, ice oblates and ice sphere-cone-oblates, in terms of the backscattering cross-section and the differential reflectivity. The experimental measurements of the backscattering cross-sections of non-spherical hydrometeor samples were performed in the Electromagnetic Scattering Laboratory of China National Space Industrial Corporation. Meanwhile, the backscattering cross-sections have been computed with the transition (T) matrix method. The theoretical results are compared with the experimental data, showing that the calculations are consistent with the observations in general. Experimental and theoretical analyses indicate that the backscattering cross-section of non-spherical particles increases as the particle size parameter increases, and fluctuates when the sizes are larger under the effect of resonance scattering. Differential reflectivity Z_DR of water oblates in natural rainfall is always greater than 0 dB whereas Z_DR of hailstones may be negative. There is a good linear relationship between differential reflectivity and aspect ratio of a particle. These derivations agree with the literature and can be used to identify the presence of hail particles and distinguish between plate-type and columnar-type hydrometeors. In this study, the measuring experiment and the T-matrix method calculations for the scattering of simulated raindrop and ice particles are also briefly described.     

Comprehensive T-matrix reference database: A 2007-2009 update

The T-matrix method is among the most versatile, efficient, and widely used theoretical techniques for the numerically exact computation of electromagnetic scattering by homogeneous and composite particles, clusters of particles, discrete random media, and particles in the vicinity of an interface separating two half-spaces with different refractive indices. This paper presents an update to the comprehensive database of T-matrix publications compiled by us previously and includes the publications that appeared since 2007. It also lists several earlier publications not included in the original database.     

Optical equivalence of isotropic ensembles of ellipsoidal particles in the Rayleigh-Gans-Debye and anomalous diffraction approximations and its consequences

Light scattering by isotropic ensembles of ellipsoidal particles is considered in the Rayleigh-Gans-Debye approximation. It is proved that randomly oriented ellipsoidal particles are optically equivalent to polydisperse randomly oriented spheroidal particles and polydisperse spherical particles. Density functions of the shape and size distributions for equivalent ensembles of spheroidal and spherical particles are presented. In the anomalous diffraction approximation, equivalent ensembles of particles are shown to also have equal extinction, scattering, and absorption coefficients. Consequences of optical equivalence are considered. The results are illustrated by numerical calculations of the angular dependence of the scattering phase function using the T-matrix method and the Mie theory.     

Monitoring of pathogen carrying air-borne tea dust particles by light scattering

In order to investigate whether tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) dust particles could be a possible carrier of the pathogen contaminated Mycobacterium a biotechnical procedure was used, and to verify the possibility of monitoring this dust, a laser based light scattering setup was designed and fabricated. Experiments were carried out using the strain Mycobacterium smegmatis mc² 155 as a model organism to study the effect on tea dust particles. Light scattering investigations on both M. smegmatis contaminated and uncontaminated tea dust particle samples were carried out as a function of scattering angle at 543.5, 594.5 and 632.5 nm wavelengths. The results have shown that the behavior of tea dust samples both with and without Mycobacterium varies significantly for all the three different incident laser wavelengths.     

Light scattering by composite particles comparable with wavelength and their approximation by systems of spheres

Scattering properties of an ensemble of independent, randomly-oriented systems consisting of two contacting wavelength-sized dielectric particles of spherical and random shapes are studied. The optical properties of such ensembles are shown to be determined, to a considerable degree, by the properties of individual components of the system; the role of collective effects is insignificant. For large scattering angles, systems consisting of two spheres form the negative branch of the degree of linear polarization when an individual sphere also forms it, and when systems composed of equivalent particles of random shape do not exhibit the negative branch. The conclusion is made that the modeling of the scattering properties of aspherical and aggregate particles by using systems of spheres of size of the order of the optical wavelength is inadequate.     

Backscatter effects of surfaces composed of dry biological particles

We present the backscattering of particulate surfaces consisting of dry biological particles using two laboratory photopolarimeters that measure intensity and degree of linear polarization in a phase-angle range 0.2-60°. We measure scattering properties from three samples composed of dry biological particles, Bacillus subtilis var. niger (BG) spores and samples of fungi Aspergillus terreus and Sporisorium cruentum spores. We find that the surfaces display a prominent brightness opposition effect and significant negative polarization near backscattering angles. The brightness and polarimetric phase curves are different for B. subtilis and the fungi.     

Study of the sensitivity of size-averaged scattering matrix elements of nonspherical particles to changes in shape, porosity and refractive index

Studies of the physical parameters that influence the single scattering properties of a size distribution of small particles in random orientation are fundamental in understanding the origin of the observed dependence of the scattering matrix elements on the scattering angle. We present results of extensive calculations of the single scattering matrices of small nonspherical particles performed by a computational model based on the Discrete-Dipole Approximation. We have particularly studied the sensitivity of the size-averaged scattering properties at visible wavelengths of nonspherical, randomly oriented absorbing particles considering changes in shape, porosity and refractive index. These studies have importance regarding the inversion of physical properties of small particles as measured in the laboratory and the dust properties in various astrophysical and atmospherical environments. We have found that size distributions of randomly oriented irregular particles of different shape, including large aspect ratio particles, show similar scattering matrix elements as a function of the scattering angle, in contrast with the pattern found for regularly shaped particles of varying axis ratios, for which the scattering matrix elements as a function of the scattering angle show much larger differences among them. Regarding porosity, we have found a very different pattern in the scattering matrix elements for an ensemble of compact and porous particles. In particular, the linear polarization for incident unpolarized light produced by compact and absorbing particles of large size parameter tend to mimic the pattern found for large absorbing spheres. For porous particles, however, the linear polarization for incident unpolarized light tends to decrease as the size of the particle grows, with the maximum being displaced towards smaller and smaller scattering angles.     

Impact of particle shape on refractive-index dependence of scattering in resonance domain

The impact of particle shape on how scattering, in particular the asymmetry parameter g, depends on the refractive index m is studied. Light scattering simulations for spheres and 16 different spheroids with varying refractive indices and sizes are carried out using an exact T-matrix method to establish how m affects scattering for different shapes. In addition to single shapes, shape distributions of spheroids are used to mimic scattering properties of ensembles of irregularly shaped particles. The results show that Δg resulting from Δm are both size and shape dependent, and spheroids are not universally less or more sensitive to m than the corresponding spheres are. While shape distributions of spheroids show much weaker and much more consistent m-dependence of g than the spheres of the same size, an integration over a size distribution (SD) largely eliminates these differences. Thus, the use of spheres for estimating Δg resulting from Δm for a collection of nonspherical particles appears to be safe except for very narrow SDs. The actual g-values tend to be, however, considerably and consistently in error.     

DDA simulations of light scattering by small irregular particles with various structure

We present DDA investigations of light scattering by irregular particles whose size is comparable with wavelength. We consider four types of randomly irregular particles: strongly damaged spheres, rough-surface spheres, pocked spheres, and agglomerated debris particles. Each type of particle is generated with a well defined algorithm producing an ensemble of stochastically different particles that have a common origin. The different types of irregular particles produce different angular dependencies of intensity and linear polarization degree. Transformation of phase curves of intensity and polarization with changing size parameter for irregular particles tends to be more monotonic, unlike spheres. We find that the magnitude of the negative polarization branch (NPB) tends to shrink as particle absorption increases; whereas, the maximal value and position of the positive polarization branch tends to increase. The most frequently observed shape of the negative polarization at small phase angles is asymmetric with a shift of the minimum position towards the angle of polarization sign inversion. All types of considered irregular particles reveal such asymmetry at x<10. Symmetric negative polarization branches occur seldom. The necessary conditions for their appearance are a relatively large size parameter x?10 to 12 and low absorption.     

Optical colours and polarization of a model reflection nebula

Simple models of a reflection nebula in the form of a plane-parallel slab containing smooth spherical solid particles in submicron size range have been considered. Single scattering has been assumed. The effect of varying the composition and size distribution function of the grains have been brought out in the calculations using Mie theory of scattering. The analytical part of the geometry of the problem has been treated quite rigorously and the resulting expression for nebular intensity has been presented in a somewhat new form. In this paper, the case of the star behind the nebula has been examined. A comparison of the theoretical results with the observations of the Merope nebula shows that the dirty ice grains with index of refraction about 1·3–0·1i and size parametera ₀ = 0·5μ give reasonable agreement with the colours. Simultaneously, the polarization in the visual and blue wavelength bands agree approximately up to offset angle of 6 minutes of arc. The larger offset angles pose an intriguing problem. The general trends of nebular colours and polarization with variation of real and imaginary parts of index of refraction and the size distribution parameter have been tabulated to serve as a guide for further study of reflection nebulae with the star in the rear. A part of this work was presented at the first scientific meeting of the Astronomical Society of India, held on 27 and 28 February 1974 at Hyderabad. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Coherency matrix description for statistical linear regression of Stokes parameters in rough small-particle scattering

A statistical analysis of the Stokes parameters in light scattering by randomly rough small particles shows a linear regression law between the squares of the first two components I_s and Q_s of the Stokes vector. While the coefficients of this linear regression contain physical characteristics of the particles, they cannot be directly interpreted in terms of the degree of polarization of the scattered field. We propose an interpretation of this relationship between the Stokes parameters on the basis of the general coherence-density matrix formalism. The link between the statistical regression results and the polarization properties of the stochastic scattered components of the field is established through the coherency matrix elements.     

The shape influence on the overall single scattering properties of a sample in random orientation

In order to identify the type of scattering profile that corresponds to some specific shapes, we have performed calculations of some scattering properties for those shapes with a fixed size distribution. Aggregates of different numbers of spheres have been used to fit the laboratory measurements of fly ashes. The results for other shapes, such as rectangular prisms with different axial proportions, particles made of joined cubes, and particles with different fluffiness, are also shown. From all these calculations, it is concluded that the size-averaged scattering matrix elements resembles Rayleigh features, for the size distribution stopping at , when either the number of spheres or cubes of the aggregates is increased, the shape becomes flatter or the particles become fluffier. We also show the effect of the refractive index on the Q_sca vs. X curve in the case of strongly absorbing particles. A tendency to reach the geometric optic regime is observed instead of the Rayleigh regime using the same size distribution.     

球形雾霾粒子的紫外光散射偏振特性研究

在我国经济社会快速发展的同时,雾霾天气成为了突出的环境问题,雾霾粒子的测量非常重要。偏振紫外光与大气雾霾粒子发生散射后,散射光偏振状态(Stokes矢量以及偏振度)的改变能反映雾霾粒子的相关物理特性(粒径、复杂折射率等)。基于Mie散射理论建立了紫外光雾霾球形粒子直视和非直视单次散射模型,研究了单个球形粒子和链状结构球形粒子物理特性的改变对散射光偏振状态的影响,并用蒙特卡洛仿真分析已知粒径分布的雾霾粒子浓度对散射光偏振状态的影响。结果表明：针对单个球形粒子,随着粒子粒径的增大Stokes矢量中散射光光强(I_s)随之增强,粒子复折射率虚部为先增大后较小,偏振度也是在不断增大,且复折射率虚部较小时,偏振度增加趋势快;对于粒径分布不变的雾霾粒子,随着粒子的浓度增加,雾霾粒子的散射系数、消光系数和吸收系数均呈线性增加,但是I_s先增大后减小。针对链状球形粒子,随着粒子个数的增加,I_s均呈现增大的趋势,且偏振度可用于区分链状球形粒子是否由相同球形粒子组成; 相同球形粒子组成链状结构中,I_s随着粒子数量的增加而线性增大,偏振度不改变;不同球形粒子组成的链状结构,I_s以及偏振度的变化趋势可以区分粒子物理特性。     

Ab Initio Study of the Charge-Transfer Complex of Xenon and Dicarbon

Correlated ab initio calculations with large basis sets are reported for C₂Xe. The complex has a linear structure and a considerable dipole moment due to charge transfer from xenon to dicarbon. The CXe interatomic potential is rather flat so that the predicted CXe distance remains uncertain even at the highest level employed (268 pm at BCCD(T)/VQZ+d-aug(C)). The calculations recover most of the observed red shift in the CC stretching wavenumber upon complexation and thus support the reported identification of C₂Xe in a xenon matrix. The properties of the C₂Xe complex are compared with those of the analogous charge-transfer complex F₂CCXe.     

Effects of in-plane oxygens on the magnetic response in cuprates

A brief analysis of ARPES, Raman, and neutron data is used to show the importance of the oxygen degree of freedom for the metallic phase of cuprate high-T_c superconductors. It is based on published results and a number of new calculations, relevant to Raman and neutron scattering in the metallic underdoped and optimally doped regime. They are placed in the context of a recently developed theoretical understanding of the microscopic interplay between metallicity and local valence-bond fluctuations in the cuprates. It is argued that the oxygen degree of freedom is dominantly responsible for the metallicity in the normal state. The coexistence of metallic oxygen-dominated states with localized copper-dominated states is a key experimental constraint on the microscopic understanding of the normal-state pseudogap proposed here, especially of its strong k-dependence.     

Polarisation properties of comet NEAT C/2001 Q4

Comets exhibit high (up to 25 %) amount of optical polarization when they are observed through ground based or space telescopes. These polarizations are caused due to the scattering of cometary dust. The observed linear polarisation of comets is generally a function of the wavelength of incident light (λ), the scattering angle (θ), the geometrical shape and size of the particle and the composition of dust particles in terms of the complex values of the refractive index. The scattering properties of cometary dust will help to know the nature of cometary dust. In the present work, the observed linear polarization data of Comet NEAT are studied through simulations using Ballistic Particle-Cluster Aggregate (BPCA) and Ballistic Cluster-Cluster Aggregate (BCCA). Using Superposition T-matrix code, the best-fitting values of complex refractive indices are calculated which can well fit the observed polarization data of Comet NEAT C/2001 Q4. The best fitting values of complex refractive indices coming out from the present analysis correspond to mixture of both silicates and organics.     

Properties of coherent bremsstrahlung from electrons in thick single crystals

A technique for calculating the frequency and polarization of the coherent bremsstrahlung from relativistic electrons in single crystals of arbitrary thickness is proposed and implemented. It accurately includes multiple scattering of the emitting particles and the angular distribution and collimation of the radiation. The spectral properties of the collimated beam of radiation from electrons with energies of 900 MeV in thick (0.1 r.l.) single crystals of diamond, silicon, and tungsten are compared with the calculations. When the radiation is tightly collimated the dependence of the frequency and polarization properties of the radiation on the multiple scattering of the emitting particles in the crystals becomes weaker.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 21–43, June, 1991.