Light propagation in scattering media based on Maxwell’s equations and on the radiative transfer equation

Abstract

The light propagation in three-dimensional scattering media was studied based on solutions of Maxwell’s equations and the radiative transfer equation. The light distribution of laterally infinitely extended slabs was calculated versus depth for an incident plane wave. The energy density obtained by a numerical solution of Maxwell’s equations was compared to the fluence rate calculated by an analytical solution of the radiative transfer equation for different concentrations of spherical particles in the slab. In general, a good agreement between the energy density and the fluence rate was found. A small systematic difference was obtained at large concentrations of the scattering particles, which can be attributed to dependent scattering effects.