Rayleigh and Raman optical activity: An analysis of the dependence on scattering angle

Abstract

The differential scattering of left‐ and right‐handed circularly polarized light by optically active molecules is now well established in both theory and experiment. In this paper the dependence of Rayleigh and Raman differential scattering intensities on the angle of scattering is analyzed. It is demonstrated that an experimental study of this angle‐dependence should enable magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole effects to be separately evaluated, and provide a useful method for testing electronic and vibrational wave function calculations. Results for circular differential Raman scattering are given in terms of irreducible tensors, allowing the selection rules for polarized and depolarized Raman bands to be applied in a straightforward way. It is also shown how the validity of the two‐group model for chiral systems can be experimentally assessed.