Multiple Rayleigh scattering of electromagnetic waves: A partial summation

Abstract

This paper deals with the multiple scattering of electromagnetic waves by a homogeneous distribution of spherical Rayleigh scatterers. We use the Feynman diagrams symbolism and define the planar diagrams which describe the interactions with possible backscattering to a previously used scatterer (loops). Resummation over every level of overlapping loops is performed analytically. In terms of the absorption properties of the equivalent continuous medium, departure from Twersky's assumption is shown to occur only in dense media, and the first level of loops is a good approximation of the whole set. Results are compared with the scalar waves case.