Abstrac t.T he theory of interaction between an arbitrary electromagnetic shaped beam and a sphere with an eccentrically located spherical inclusion is presented. T his theory is built as a synthesis between two available theories (i) the generalized Lorenz± Mie theory for a homogeneous sphere (illuminated by an arbitrary shaped beam) and (ii) the theory of interaction between a plane wave and an eccentrically strati® ed dielectric sphere.T his paper deals with the case when a homogeneous spherical particle (called the inclusion) is embedded at an arbitrary location inside a sphere (called the main sphere). S imilarly as for previous GLMT s, many applications are expected from this theory, in particular in the ® eld of particle characterization, such as using rainbow refractometry [2,3] or phase-Doppler instruments [4± 6]. Another interesting prospect concerns the behaviour of morphology-dependent resonances (MDRs) (see the comprehensive work of [7] for access to the relevant literature, and also the classical work of [8]). From an electromagnetic point of view, these MDRs correspond to solutions of characteristic equations associated with boundary conditions and lead to internal ® elds which are concentrated near the rim of the Journal of Modern Optics ISSN 0950± 0340 print/I SSN 1362± 3044 online # 2000 T aylor & Francis Ltd