Abstract

The generalized eikonal approximation (GEA) method developed earlier for particle scattering by a potential¹ is applied to light scattering by a dielectric medium. In this method, the propagation of light inside the medium is assumed, just as a usual eikonal approximation method, rectilinear but with a parametrized propagator. This way, the simple closed form of eikonal scattering amplitude is preserved but with two parameters to be adjusted for minimizing the errors. The parameters are determined from geometrical optics consideration and high-energy behaviors of Q_ext. As a specific application, the light scattering by a uniform dielectric sphere is calculated and numerically compared with the results from the Mie method. The extensive comparison shows that GEA works excellently. It gives rise to dramatic improvements over the usual eikonal method at high energy and for the index of refraction n close to one. More amazingly, it also works even at low energy and for n as large as 5. The GEA formalism gives a clear-cut picture of how light propagates through a medium. Its applications to many scatterer systems is immediate and most interesting.

© 1988 Optical Society of America