Electromagnetic wave scattering by assemblies of particles in the Rayleigh approximation

Abstract

A system of 3N linear simultaneous equations is derived from which the scattering properties of an assembly of N spheres can be obtained. Except that the individual spheres must satisfy the criteria for the Rayleigh approximation, they may be of arbitrary volume and complex refractive index. The results of numerical calculations are presented illustrating the properties of the scattered light, and comparisons are made with previous work. A diagnostic technique is proposed which should be capable of determining the size and complex refractive index of the spheres and the number of particles in a long chain agglomerate.