Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Critical effects in semiclassical scattering
- 2 Diffraction and Coronae
- 3 The rainbow
- 4 The glory
- 5 Mie solution and resonances
- 6 Complex angular momentum
- 7 Scattering by an impenetrable sphere
- 8 Diffraction as tunneling
- 9 The Debye expansion
- 10 Theory of the rainbow
- 11 Theory of the glory
- 12 Near-critical scattering
- 13 Average cross sections
- 14 Orbiting and resonances
- 15 Macroscopic applications
- 16 Applications to atomic, nuclear and particle physics
- References
- Index
11 - Theory of the glory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Critical effects in semiclassical scattering
- 2 Diffraction and Coronae
- 3 The rainbow
- 4 The glory
- 5 Mie solution and resonances
- 6 Complex angular momentum
- 7 Scattering by an impenetrable sphere
- 8 Diffraction as tunneling
- 9 The Debye expansion
- 10 Theory of the rainbow
- 11 Theory of the glory
- 12 Near-critical scattering
- 13 Average cross sections
- 14 Orbiting and resonances
- 15 Macroscopic applications
- 16 Applications to atomic, nuclear and particle physics
- References
- Index
Summary
A satisfactory explanation has not so far been available.
(van de Hulst 1947)CAM theory provided for the first time a detailed physical explanation of the meteorological glory. It confirmed van de Hulst's conjecture (Sec. 4.3) about the importance of surface waves of the type illustrated in fig. 4.3, but it showed that higher-order Debye contributions, both from surface waves and from the shadow of higher-order rainbows, are very important. What is very remarkable is that all these contributions arise from complex critical points, so that the glory is a macroscopic tunneling effect. Several other physical effects must be taken into account, rendering the glory one of the most complicated of all known scattering phenomena.
The meteorological glory is observed in backscattering. CAM theory predicts the existence as well of a forward optical glory, that will be discussed in Chapter 13.
Observational and numerical glory features
Observations of natural glories, together with laboratory observations, have shown some conspicuous differences between glories (sometimes called anti-coronae) and coronae (van de Hulst 1957).
(i) Variability. The appearance of the glory rings varies considerably from one observation to another, and sometimes even in the course of a single observation. Indeed, as will be illustrated below, the near-backward intensities are rapidly varying functions of β, θ and N.
(ii) Angular distribution. The angular distribution falls off away from the central region much more slowly than in the coronae, so that the outer rings are more pronounced: the observation of as many as five sets of rings has been reported.
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- Diffraction Effects in Semiclassical Scattering , pp. 117 - 142Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992