Statistics – Applications
Scientific paper
Mar 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995apj...441..400c&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 441, no. 1, p. 400-407
Statistics
Applications
59
Interstellar Gas, Optical Thickness, Polarization Characteristics, R Coronae Borealis Stars, Scattering Functions, Stellar Envelopes, Supergiant Stars, Astronomical Models, Monte Carlo Method, Statistical Analysis, Statistical Distributions
Scientific paper
We describe a Monte Carlo method for calculating polarization due to scattering in various geometries. We apply the method in this paper to the case of scattering in a spherical cloud illuminated by parallel rays. The polarization is largest in small optical depth blobs, where single scattering dominates. The polarization decreases as optical depth increases until a limit is reached where scattering occurs on the surface, and increasing optical depth has little effect on the results. For a given optical depth, decreasing the albedo leads to an increase of the degree of polarization of the scattered light because single scattering increases relative to multiple scattering. As the optical depth of the blob increases, the scattered flux becomes increasingly backward throwing. In the high albedo blobs, the maximum polarization becomes skewed towards the illuminated hemisphere at high optical depths. We discuss the applications to polarization in supergiants and R CrB stars, and scattering in a clumpy interstellar medium.
Code Arthur D.
Whitney Barbara A.
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