Rayleigh Scattering from a Sphere Located Near a Planar Rigid Boundary

Abstract

Rayleigh scattering from a spherical object located near a planar rigid boundary at distances smaller than the wavelength is calculated. Low frequency analysis reduces a scattering problem to a sequence of potential problems. An analytical solution based on expansion in spherical solid harmonics and the use of addition theorem is presented. Analytical perturbation approach is validated by comparison with numerical calculations. The velocity of the center of the particle and the scattering amplitude are determined. In the lowest order in wavenumber, the scattering amplitude is expressed in terms of the monopole and dipole components. In contrast to the behavior of a bubble, under the same conditions, dipole oscillations of the particle in the direction normal to the boundary are not excited and the monopole component of the scattering amplitude does not depend on the location of the particle relative to the boundary.