Extinction paradox

In the small wavelength limit, the total scattering cross-section of an impenetrable sphere is twice its geometrical cross-sectional area (which is the value obtained in classical mechanics).[1]

Several explanations for this phenomenon have been proposed:[2]

• destructive interference inside particle shadow[3]
• diffraction and shadowing of light by particle[4]
• superposition of incident and scattered field[5]
• cancellation of incident wave inside particle[6]

References

1. Newton, Roger G. (2002). Scattering Theory of Waves and Particles, second edition. Dover Publications. p. 68. ISBN 0-486-42535-5.
2. "TPDSci Ind Ext". tpdsci.com. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
3. Brillouin, L. (1949). "The Scattering Cross Section of Spheres for Electromagnetic Waves". Journal of Applied Physics. 20 (11): 1110–1125. Bibcode:1949JAP....20.1110B. doi:10.1063/1.1698280.
4. Hulst, Hendrik Christoffel (January 1981). Light Scattering by Small Particles. ISBN 9780486642284. OCLC 264445223.
5. Lai, H. M.; Wong, W. Y.; Wong, W. H. (2004). "Extinction paradox and actual power scattered in light beam scattering: A two-dimensional study". Journal of the Optical Society of America A. 21 (12): 2324–33. Bibcode:2004JOSAA..21.2324L. doi:10.1364/JOSAA.21.002324. PMID 15603068.
6. Berg, M. J.; Sorensen, C. M.; Chakrabarti, A. (2011). "A new explanation of the extinction paradox". Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer. 112 (7): 1170. Bibcode:2011JQSRT.112.1170B. doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2010.08.024., open access at DigitalCommons here