Abstract

This paper presents the distribution of absorption centers within an absorbing sphere under monochromatic, parallel illumination. Results for the equatorial plane are represented by topographical perspective views for size parameters a, up to 5, and for refractive indices up to m = 3.0−0.1i. The main features of the topography become increasingly structured with increasing magnitude of the size parameter and the real part of the refractive index. Although the imaginary part of the refractive index strongly influences the magnitude of the absorption, it does not influence the shape of the topography as long as the imaginary part is less than the real part of the refractive index. Results are also presented for m = 1.95−0.66i corresponding to carbon. The source function, which is depicted for the first time in this paper, must be the starting point for any theory of radiation pressure on small absorbing particles, for photophoresis, or for other phenomena concerned with the temperature distribution within irradiated particles.