Microwave propagation and scattering in a dense distribution of non-tenuous spheres: experiment and theory

Abstract

Controlled laboratory experimental results of coherent microwave propagation through a random medium are reported. The medium consisted of layers of styrofoam with spherical glass beads embedded at predetermined random positions generated by computer. The magnitude and phase of the transmitted field was measured over the frequency range 18-20.4 GHz for media with volume fractional densities ranging from 0.5% to 11%. The results are compared with independent scattering, Foldy's approximation, and the quasicrystalline approximation (QCA) using the solution of the Percus-Yevick (PY) equation for the pair distribution function. The effects of a size distribution are included. Experimental results indicate that at low densities, the measured extinction rate increases linearly with concentration in agreement with independent scattering. As concentration further increases, the extinction curve turns convex and is lower than independent scattering. However, it is higher than that predicted by QCA-PY. Using the known particle positions the authors have also computed the pair correlation function and good agreement is obtained with the Percus-Yevick approximation.     

Contribution of multiple scattering to the dielectric constant of a randomly inhomogeneous medium

Within the statistical theory of multiple scattering of light in random media, the dielectric constant of a suspension is represented as a diagram series in scattering orders and concentration of particles. The contributions of double and triple scattering events are determined. The extinction length and the transport mean free path in highly concentrated suspensions calculated with the use of the optical theorem are in good agreement with the available data. It is shown that the two-particle Born approximation, combined with the Mie form factor and the Percus-Yevick structure factor, is not adequate for systems with a high concentration of scatterers. A contribution to the optical parameters is found that is missing in the above approximation.     

Brownian dynamics of polydisperse colloidal hard spheres: Equilibrium structures and random close packings

Recently we presented a new technique for numerical simulations of colloidal hard-sphere systems and showed its high efficiency. Here, we extend our calculations to the treatment of both 2- and 3-dimensional monodisperse and 3-dimensional polydisperse systems (with sampled finite Gaussian size distribution of particle radii), focusing on equilibrium pair distribution functions and structure factors as well as volume fractions of random close packing (RCP). The latter were determined using in principle the same technique as Woodcock or Stillinger had used. Results for the monodisperse 3-dimensional system show very good agreement compared to both pair distribution and structure factor predicted by the Percus-Yevick approximation for the fluid state (volume fractions up to 0.50). We were not able to find crystalline 3d systems at volume fractions 0.50–0.58 as shown by former simulations of Reeet al. or experiments of Pusey and van Megen, due to the fact that we used random start configurations and no constraints of particle positions as in the cell model of Hoover and Ree, and effects of the overall entropy of the system, responsible for the melting and freezing phase transitions, are neglected in our calculations. Nevertheless, we obtained reasonable results concerning concentration-dependent long-time selfdiffusion coefficients (as shown before) and equilibrium structure of samples in the fluid state, and the determination of the volume fraction of random close packing (RCP, glassy state). As expected, polydispersity increases the respective volume fraction of RCP due to the decrease in free volume by the fraction of the smaller spheres which fill gaps between the larger particles.     

Singular value distribution of the propagation matrix in random scattering media

The distribution of singular values of the propagation operator in a random medium is investigated, in a backscattering configuration. Experiments are carried out with pulsed ultrasonic waves around 3 MHz, using an array of 64 programmable transducers placed in front of a random scattering medium. The impulse responses between each pair of transducers are measured and form the response matrix. The evolution of its singular values with time and frequency is computed by means of a short-time Fourier analysis. The mean distribution of singular values exhibits a very different behaviour in the single and multiple scattering regimes. The results are compared with random matrix theory. Once the experimental matrix coefficients are renormalized, experimental results and theoretical predictions are found to be in a very good agreement. Two kinds of random media have been investigated: a highly scattering medium in which multiple scattering predominates and a weakly scattering medium. In both cases, residual correlations that may exist between matrix elements are shown to be a key parameter. Finally, the possibility of detecting a target embedded in a random scattering medium based on the statistical properties of the strongest singular value is discussed.     

Liquids in a periodic medium: Commensurability effects

The inhomogeneous version of the Percus-Yevick theory is used to study the static properties (pair correlations, structure factor, density distribution) of a one-dimensional liquid embedded in a periodic medium. Thedc-conductivity based on a dynamical model of strongly damped Brownian particles is also investigated. The numerical calculations performed over a wide range of temperatures, interaction strengths, and average densities show the onset of commensurability effects in the static and dynamic quantities.The results are compared with those based on the homogeneous version of the Percus-Yevick theory. The range of validity of this considerably simpler treatment is estimated.     

Pure-triplet scattering for radiative transfer in binary discrete random finite media with reflective boundaries and internal source of radiation

The stochastic solution of the monoenergetic radiative transfer equation in a finite slab random medium with pure-triplet anisotropic scattering is considered. The random medium is assumed to consist of two randomly mixed immiscible fluids labelled by 1 and 2. The extinction function, the scattering kernel, and the internal source of radiation are treated as discrete random variables, which obey the same statistics. The theoretical model used here for stochastic media transport assumes Markovian processes and exponential chord length statistics. The boundaries of the medium under consideration are considered to have specular and diffuse reflectivities with an internal source of radiation inside the medium. The ensemble-average partial heat fluxes are obtained in terms of the average albedos of the corresponding source-free problem, whose solution is obtained by using the Pomraning-Eddington approximation. Numerical results are calculated for the average forward and backward partial heat fluxes for different values of the single scattering albedo with variation of the parameters that characterize the random medium. Compared to the results obtained by Adams et al. in the case of isotropic scattering based on the Monte Carlo technique, it can be demonstrated that we have good comparable data.     

Perturbation theory: Reduced scattering intensity for microemulsions

The reduced scattering intensity for a binary mixture of microemulsions has been calculated in terms of direct correlation functions introduced by Ornstein and Zernike in the Percus-Yevick (PY) approximation. Here square well and triangular well attractive tails are used as perturbations over the Percus-Yevick hard sphere model within the frame work of mean spherical model approximation. Good agreement is obtained between square well and triangular well calculations.     

Pure-triplet scattering for radiative transfer in binary discrete random finite media with reflective boundaries and internal source of radiation

The stochastic solution of the monoenergetic radiative transfer equation in a finite slab random medium with pure-triplet anisotropic scattering is considered. The random medium is assumed to consist of two randomly mixed immiscible fluids labelled by 1 and 2. The extinction function, the scattering kernel, and the internal source of radiation are treated as discrete random variables, which obey the same statistics. The theoretical model used here for stochastic media transport assumes Markovian processes and exponential chord length statistics. The boundaries of the medium under consideration are considered to have specular and diffuse reflectivities with an internal source of radiation inside the medium. The ensemble-average partial heat fluxes are obtained in terms of the average albedos of the corresponding source-free problem, whose solution is obtained by using the Pomraning–Eddington approximation. Numerical results are calculated for the average forward and backward partial heat fluxes for different values of the single scattering albedo with variation of the parameters that characterize the random medium. Compared to the results obtained by Adams et al. in the case of isotropic scattering based on the Monte Carlo technique, it can be demonstrated that we have good comparable data.     

Light scattering in a layer of correlatively arranged optically soft particles

The light scattering by an ensemble of monodisperse spatially correlated optically soft spherical particles is studied in the interference approximation. A model of the interaction of particles is proposed in which the spatial correlation between particles is determined by a radius R _c exceeding the particle radius R _p. The radial distribution function is calculated in the Percus-Yevick approximation for hard spheres of the radius R _c. To simulate the radiation scattering from an individual particle of the radius R _p, the Mie equations are used. It is shown that, in a medium of correlated small nonabsorbing particles of the radius R _c > R _p, an abnormal wavelength dependence of the refractive index is possible at a low volume concentration of particles. The results obtained explain some experimentally observed features of the scattering in sodium borosilicate glasses with a small concentration of scattering centers.     

Second-order Percus–Yevick theory for the radial distribution functions of a mixture of hard spheres in the limit of zero concentration of the large spheres

The radial distribution functions of a mixture of hard spheres are quite interesting when the ratio of diameters is large and the concentration of the large spheres is very small. In this regime, the radial distrbution functions change rapidly with concentration. The usual PercusYevick theory, which is adequate over most of the concentration range, fails at low concentrations of the large spheres. Values are reported of the radial distribution functions for zero concentration of the large spheres using the most accurate theory presently available, secondorder Percus-Yevick theory. Agreement with recent formulae for the contact values of these functions is very good except for the contact value for a pair of large spheres, where the agreement is fairly good. It is possible that the radial distribution function for a pair of large spheres may be a little larger than the already large values given by this recent formula.     

Permittivity of suspensions

The permittivity of a suspension treated as a system of hard spheres is calculated in the Born approximation. The structure of the suspension is described by the Percus-Yevick correlation function. The permittivity of the system under consideration is expressed through a nonlocal susceptibility whose spatial extension is determined by the form factor of suspension particles and the characteristic value of the structure factor. It is shown that the permittivity of the suspension mixture is characterized by a spatial dispersion that manifests itself already in the first order of the perturbation theory. It is demonstrated that the concentration dependences of the extinction length and the transport length calculated from the obtained data on the permittivity tensor exhibit substantially nonlinear behavior. Within the range of applicability of the theory, the results obtained are in agreement with available experimental data.     

随机分布黑碳-硅酸盐混合凝聚粒子的消光特性研究

基于分形理论,采用蒙特卡罗方法对随机分布的混合凝聚粒子的空间结构进行了仿真模拟。利用Bruggeman有效介质理论得到了占有不同体积份额黑碳的内混合凝聚粒子的等效复折射率。采用离散偶极子近似方法对随机分布混合凝聚粒子在内外混合状态下的吸收、散射和消光效率因子等消光特性参量进行了数值计算,深入探讨了混合方式、容积含量、入射波长以及基本粒子粒径和数量对混合凝聚粒子消光特性的影响规律。通过将所得数值结果与T矩阵方法的数值结果进行比较发现,两种数值方法计算的结果非常相近。结果表明,随机分布混合凝聚粒子的散射效率因子对混合方式非常敏感,消光效率因子对混合方式较敏感,而吸收效率因子对混合方式不敏感。随着凝聚粒子尺度参数的增大,混合方式对散射和消光效率因子的影响逐渐显著。内外混合方式下,随着黑碳体积比的增大随机分布混合凝聚粒子的吸收、散射和消光效率因子均近似线性增大,并且增大的幅度随着粒子尺度参数的增大而增大。     

Dependence of the lidar signal depolarization on the receiver’s field of view in the sounding of fog and clouds

We report an experimental study of the lidar signal depolarization as a function of the relative contribution of the multiple scattering in case of optically dense objects in the atmospheric planetary boundary layer. Results of the observation of fog and stratus clouds are presented, as well as those obtained by sounding of stratocumulus clouds during a snowfall. The lidar data point to a rise of the depolarization coefficient as the influence of the multiple scattering increases in consequence of both viewing angle enlargement and penetration into the object sounded. The variations of the depolarization coefficient are studied as a function of the field of view. In the case of fog, this dependence is approximated by a three-parameter exponential law; it is found that the depolarization increases steeply when the viewing angle is increased from 9 mrad to 12.5 mrad. The relationships between the approximation parameters and the microphysical characteristics of the scattering medium are considered. The experimentally determined size of the area where multiple scattering occurs is in good agreement with that calculated according to the diffusion model. The results obtained on the multiple scattering effect on the depolarization can also be employed in determining the extinction coefficient profiles in optically dense objects, as well as in evaluating the characteristic size of the scattering particles. Received: 6 September 1999 / Revised version: 7 February 2000 / Published online: 6 September 2000     

Radiative transfer in finite volcanic eruption clouds

Radiation transfer through a volcanic aerosol medium has been studied. The radiation transfer properties of the medium as scattering, absorption and extinction coefficients are calculated using the Mie scattering theory. Average coefficients over the size parameter and the radiation wavelength are calculated. The radiation heat fluxes for volcanic eruption ash medium are calculated using the Variational Pomraning–Eddington approximation and compared with those obtained from the Galerkin method. The comparison showed very good agreement.     

Calculation of static correlations in a fluid of linear molecules

Recently, both X-ray and neutron diffraction data have been obtained for liquid crystalline materials. While these results contain information about the instantaneous correlations of molecular positions and orientations in such fluids, no relevant calculations are available to aid the interpretation of the data. In this paper a formalism which may be used to describe static, molecular correlations in isotropic or anisotropic fluids of linear molecules is developed. To obtain the theory, the direct and total correlation functions of two molecules are expanded as series of spherical harmonics the arguments of which describe the molecular orientations. A relation between the expansion coefficients of these series is obtained by making use of the Ornstein-Zernike equation. It is shown that this equation may be solved in the Percus-Yevick or Optimized-Random-Phase approximations by a variational technique. This technique is used to find the total correlation function in the Percus-Yevick approximation of hard, linear molecules of various length-breadth ratios at several fluid densities.     

Diffuse reflection of light from a dense random medium using fibres dipped into the medium

Diffuse reflection of a narrow collimated light beam from a slab of a dense random medium is considered theoretically and experimentally for the case of the source and the detector fibres dipped into the random medium, as is the case for an endoscopic catheter. By use of the diffusion approximation, a simple and physically clear analytical expression is derived for the distribution of the diffuse reflectance of the light beam along the surface of the random medium slab. We include the effects of reflections from the top and bottom surfaces of the slab. The analytical expression derived predicts that, in the case of small absorption, the relative reflectance is a universal function defined by the geometrical parameters and is independent of specific properties of the random medium. The theoretical prediction is found to show good agreement with the results of measurements.     

Diffuse reflection of light from a dense random medium using fibres dipped into the medium

Abstract

Diffuse reflection of a narrow collimated light beam from a slab of a dense random medium is considered theoretically and experimentally for the case of the source and the detector fibres dipped into the random medium, as is the case for an endoscopic catheter. By use of the diffusion approximation, a simple and physically clear analytical expression is derived for the distribution of the diffuse reflectance of the light beam along the surface of the random medium slab. We include the effects of reflections from the top and bottom surfaces of the slab. The analytical expression derived predicts that, in the case of small absorption, the relative reflectance is a universal function defined by the geometrical parameters and is independent of specific properties of the random medium. The theoretical prediction is found to show good agreement with the results of measurements.