Multiple scattering of polarized light in disordered media exhibiting short-range structural correlations

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical model for the diffusion of polarized light in disordered media with short-range correlations, revealing how structural anisotropy influences polarization-dependent transport properties.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical radiative transfer framework incorporating structural correlations and polarization eigenmodes, advancing understanding of polarized light diffusion in complex media.

Findings

Structural correlations modify polarization eigenchannel transport mean free paths.

The model provides explicit dependence of polarization diffusion on the anisotropic scattering parameter g.

Analytical solutions are obtained in the diffusion limit for weak disorder.

Abstract

We develop a model based on a multiple scattering theory to describe the diffusion of polarized light in disordered media exhibiting short-range structural correlations. Starting from exact expressions of the average field and the field spatial correlation function, we derive a radiative transfer equation for the polarization-resolved specific intensity that is valid for weak disorder and we solve it analytically in the diffusion limit. A decomposition of the specific intensity in terms of polarization eigenmodes reveals how structural correlations, represented via the standard anisotropic scattering parameter $g$, affect the diffusion of polarized light. More specifically, we find that propagation through each polarization eigenchannel is described by its own transport mean free path that depends on $g$ in a specific and non-trivial way.