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Glory

An optical phenomenon
Physics 32.1 Group Report

What are glories?

Glory from the Airplane View Houston, Texas


Taken by Jonathan Lansey

Glory from the Airplane View 2


Taken by Nik Szymanek

Glory
oAn optical phenomenon which resembles an iconic saints halo oA multicolored-light halo surrounding the shadow (Nussenzveig, 2012) oCan only be seen when the observer is directly opposite between the sun and cloud of refracting water droplets

Brocken Spectre
The shadow grotesquely distorted by perspective.

Simulation of a Glory
o Mie Scaterring Theory
Mathematical Theory of Diffraction by a Sphere (2 droplet) Calculates the solution of infinite sum of terms called partial waves Not until 1990s this theory gives realistic results Says Only what happens but not how

o Peter Debye
Reformulated Mie Theory To separate the contributions made by various scattering processes Goes far beyond the limitations of geometric optics

Simulation of Glory caused by r=10m droplet


Left Mie Theory, Right Debeye Series

How are glories formed?


oThe science of glories is still subject of debates and researches. oOver the centuries, physicists have offered several explanations for glories that proved to be incorrect

In the beginning of 19th Century


oGerman Physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer
Sunlight is scattered that is, reflected back from droplets deep within a cloud would be diffracted by droplets at the outer layers Double scattering colored diffraction rings
Like a corona

In 1923
oIndian Physicist B. B. Ray
Refuted Fraunhofers proposal
After experimenting with artificial clouds
Glory rings have a distribution of brightness and colors very different from those of coronas They arise directly from the outer layers of a cloud, from single backscattering by individual 2 droplets

In the middle of 20th Century


Hendrik C. van de Hulst
A pioneer of modern radio astronomy
Provided the 1st significant insight into the physical explanation of glories Pointed out that a light ray that entered a droplet very close to the droplets edge might follow a Vshaped trajectory inside the droplet, bouncing off at the back, and return almost exactly in the same direction that it came from.

V-shaped trajectory

However
As a light ray entered and exited, it would bend via refraction

Surface Wave
Surface waves attached to an interface between two different media arise in a variety of situations. The idea was that a tangentially incident ray would graze the droplet, travel along its surface a short distance, then propagate through the droplet to its rear. There it would again travel along the surface and reflect back through the droplet. A final passage along the surface would send it on its way. The overall effect would be to scatter the ray back in the same direction that it came from.

Surface Wave

But still
o Surface waves lose energy by shedding radiation tangentially
At the time when he propsed, no quantitative procedure to evaluate the surface-wave contributions was available

o All the information about glories had to be implicitly contained within the Mie partial-wave series

A Different Perspective
oIn 1987, Warren Wiscombe and Herch Moyss Nussenzveig
That light rays passing outside the sphere could make a significant contribution

HOW?
Light waves in particularhave the uncanny ability of tunneling, or jumping through a barrier

Tunneling
Total Internal Reflection electric and magnetic fields that make up the light waves do not drop completely to zero at the interface
Forming Evanescent Waves
Makes the electromagnetic field near the surface vibrate in place, like strings of guitar

If, however, a third medium is placed within a short distance of the boundary so that it overlaps with the evanescent waves, the waves can resume their outward propagation in the third medium and thus siphon energy away. TUNNELING

Newton on Tunneling
As far back as 1675 He was investigating patterns of interference now known as Newtons Rings
By laying a convex lens on a flat glass plate He found out that even when an extremely narrow air gap separated the surface of the lens from the plate, some light that should have undergone total internal reflection jumped across the gap instead.

Quantum Mechanics
Russian-born Physicist George Gamow explained how certain radioactive isotopes can emit alpha particles Alpha particles should not have enough energy to detach from a larger nucleus But, he was able to demonstrate that alpha particles can still tunnel through this energy gap and escape.
Because of their wavelike nature

Mie Resonance
Also called Whispering Gallery Modes
Dome of St. Pauls Cathedral in London
a person who whispers facing the wall at one side can be heard far away at the other side because the sound undergoes multiple reflections, bouncing around the curved walls.

A tiny change in wavelength suffices to detune the resonance so that Mie resonances are extremely sharp and concentrated and yield large intensity enhancement

Based on Nussenzveig
There are three potential effects contend for primary contributors to the glory phenomenon: I. Rays that hit the sphere
Rays geometric-optic axial backscattering

II. Edge Rays


van de Hulsts Surface Waves

III. Mie Resonance


Tunneling of Light

Lastly, Glories and Climate


Study of Glories necessary for estimating the role of clouds will have in climate change Will it
help keep the planet cool by reflecting more sunlight back into space, or will it contribute to heating by acting as an additional blanket to trap infrared radiation?

END.

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