Effective scattering cross section of an assembly of small ellipsoidal particles

Abstract

A model of light scattering from an assembly of small shape-distributed ellipsoidal particles is considered. The three principal assumptions used are the neglect of multiple scattering, the dipole polarizability, and the equiprobable distribution for the ellipsoid depolarization factors. These assumptions enabled us to find analytically the effective cross section for light scattering. {That for light absorption was found in a similar way by Goncharenko [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B13, 2392 (1996)]}. The solution obtained is analyzed for some special cases, in particular for low and no absorption.