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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Scattering And Absorption of Light in Planetary Regoliths
Published on: July 1, 2019
Light scattering by tenuous particles: a generalization of the Rayleigh-Gans-Rocard approach
Abstract:
We consider scattering by arbitrarily shaped particles that satisfy two conditions: (1) that the polarizability of the particle relative to the ambient medium be small compared to 1 and (2) that the phase shift introduced by the particle be less than 2. We solve the integro-differential equation proposed by Shifrin by using the method of successive iterations and then applying a Fourier transform. For the second iteration, results are presented that accurately describe scattering by a broad class of particles. The phase function and other elements of the scattering matrix are shown to be in excellent agreement with Mie theory for spherical scatterers.
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