Negative Polarization of Celestial Bodies: Review and Computer Simulation

Abstract

A brief review of the main causes of a negative degree of linear polarization of radiation scattered by regolith surfaces of atmosphereless cosmic bodies and ensembles of particles in the opposition region is presented. The results of computer simulation are provided, which made it possible to calculate the polariza tion degree of light scattered by pairs of irregular particles. The distance between the particles changed, which made it possible to obtain a visual representation of the total effect of the nature of negative polarization in the case of two-particle scattering (scattering in which two particles participate). Previously, a similar study was carried out for the case of two spherical particles, and showed that two-particle scattering by spheres only changes the degree of linear polarization in absolute value. We showed that two-particle scattering by irregular particles has a variable effect on the degree of linear polarization, both increasing and decreasing it. We also demonstrated that two-particle scattering by irregular particles can form a negative polarization even if the light scattered by a single particle is positively polarized. Therefore, in theoretical studies of the appearance of negative polarization, it is important to take into account two-particle scattering.