Multiple Scattering in Disordered Materials III. Compact Representation of the Wave Number and Introduction of Local Currents

Some general conclusions are drawn from the basic mathematical structure of a theory developed in a preceding paper. Employing a proper normalization of the strength coefficients which are introduced there together with a reference function to get a general representation of the incident fields, these coefficients as well as the reference function get an enhanced physical meaning. With the normalized strength coefficients a compact representation for the wave number of the medium is derived. Especially the attenuation term Im k 2 shows a close correspondence to the kinematic expression on the one hand and to the local loss currents, on the other hand. Via the introduction of these currents a deeper understanding of the loss mechanism and the possibility to analyse the angular distribution of these currents is achieved. The fields for a half‐space and a slab are determined. The results exhibit the shortcomings of a macroscopical‐optical analysis in the case of anisotropic scattering at single scatterers.