Anisotropic Light Scattering by Inner-Field Fluctuations in a Dense Monatomic Gas

Abstract

The intensity of light scattering by monatomic gases is calculated by a new self-consistent-field method which is particularly suited to analyzing the effect of collective phenomena such as the fluctuations of the inner field. The polarizability density of atoms is introduced, and the properties of this space function are illustrated by an explicit quantum-mechanical calculation for the hydrogen atom. The Fourier coefficients of the polarizability density are combined with the Fourier coefficients of the particle density and are used as stochastic variables of the scattering system. The effective inner field for a specific particle configuration is obtained as an iterative solution of an integrodifferential equation, and is used for calculating the scattering intensity. This intensity is then averaged over all particle configurations. At ordinary pressures (αn≪1, α is atomic polarizability, n is the particle density) Rayleigh's scattering formula is confirmed, but at high pressures (αn→1) observable corrections to his formula are obtained. In particular, scattering is found depolarized contrary to Rayleigh's theory and to some recent work.