title: Backscattering of beams by forward-peaked scattering media.
abstract: For a beam impinging on a scattering medium the diffusion approximation to the radiative transport equation is not valid for analyzing the radiance near the source, especially if the medium scatters strongly with a sharp forward peak. To analyze the radiance, we use the Fokker-Planck approximation to the radiative transport equation. Numerical results show a backscattered ring appearing around the beam center. It also appears in Monte Carlo simulations of the radiative transport equation. This ring is manifested from successive near-forward scattering events, so it requires a directional description. Therefore the diffusion approximation cannot predict this ring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2125, USA. adkim@math.stanford.edu
authors.forename: Arnold D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moscoso