Transient radiative transfer in a scattering slab considering polarization

Abstract

The characteristics of the transient and polarization must be considered for a complete and correct description of short-pulse laser transfer in a scattering medium. A Monte Carlo (MC) method combined with a time shift and superposition principle is developed to simulate transient vector (polarized) radiative transfer in a scattering medium. The transient vector radiative transfer matrix (TVRTM) is defined to describe the transient polarization behavior of short-pulse laser propagating in the scattering medium. According to the definition of reflectivity, a new criterion of reflection at Fresnel surface is presented. In order to improve the computational efficiency and accuracy, a time shift and superposition principle is applied to the MC model for transient vector radiative transfer. The results for transient scalar radiative transfer and steady-state vector radiative transfer are compared with those in published literatures, respectively, and an excellent agreement between them is observed, which validates the correctness of the present model. Finally, transient radiative transfer is simulated considering the polarization effect of short-pulse laser in a scattering medium, and the distributions of Stokes vector in angular and temporal space are presented.