Interferometric particle imaging of ice particles using a multi-view optical system.

Interferometric particle imaging enables particle size estimation in a wide range [from 10 µm to a few millimeters] depending on the optical system design. With a multi-view optical system, it is possible to extract more information about the 3D morphology of the particle. In this study, multi-view interferometric out-of-focus imaging of ice particles is performed in a backward-scattering configuration. It is used to estimate ice particle volume and thus to reduce uncertainty concerning particle size estimation. It is further used to better analyze the presence of nearby particles whose images overlap.

Instrumentation for ice crystal characterization in laboratory using interferometric out-of-focus imaging.

Airborne characterization of ice crystals has important applications. The extreme difficulty of realizing in situ tests requires the development of a complete instrumentation in the laboratory. Such an installation should enable design, development, test, and calibration of instruments in conditions as close as possible to real ones. We present a set of numerical and experimental tools that have been developed to realize ice crystal sensors based on interferometric particle imaging. The set of tools covers the development of complementary simulators for crystal growth and interferometric particle imaging predictions, experimental generation of "programmable" ice crystals, and instrumentation of a freezing column where different techniques as in-focus imaging, out-of-focus imaging, and digital in-line holography can be combined simultaneously for test and calibration.

3D-shape recognition and size measurement of irregular rough particles using multi-views interferometric out-of-focus imaging.

We realize simplified-tomography experiments on irregular rough particles using interferometric out-of-focus imaging. Using two angles of view, we determine the global 3D-shape, the dimensions, and the 3D-orientation of irregular rough particles whose morphologies belong to families such as sticks, plates, and crosses.

Interferometric out-of-focus imaging of ice particles with overlapping images.

It is shown that the size and relative positions of two irregular rough particles can be analyzed using interferometric out-of-focus imaging despite the overlapping of their out-of-focus images. Simulations are confirmed by experiments done with ice particles generated in a freezing column.

Dual-wavelength digital holography for 3D particle image velocimetry: experimental validation.

A multi-exposure digital in-line hologram of a particle field is recorded by two successive pulses of different wavelengths. During the reconstruction step, each recording can be independently analyzed by selecting a given wavelength. This procedure enables avoiding the superimposition of particle images that may be close to each other.

Simultaneous 3D location and size measurement of bubbles and sand particles in a flow using interferometric particle imaging.

We present a system to characterize a triphasic flow in a 3D volume (air bubbles and solid irregular particles in water) using only one CCD sensor. A cylindrical interferometric out-of-focus imaging setup is used to determine simultaneously the 3D position and the size of bubbles and irregular sand particles in a flow. The 3D position of the particles is deduced from the ellipticity of their out-of-focus image. The size of bubbles is deduced from analysis of interference fringes. The characteristics of irregular sand particles are obtained from analysis of their speckle-like pattern. Experiments are confirmed by simulations.

Study of scattering from a sphere with an eccentrically located spherical inclusion by generalized Lorenz-Mie theory: internal and external field distribution.

Based on the recent results in the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory, solutions for scattering problems of a sphere with an eccentrically located spherical inclusion illuminated by an arbitrary shaped electromagnetic beam in an arbitrary orientation are obtained. Particular attention is paid to the description and application of an arbitrary shaped beam in an arbitrary orientation to the scattering problem under study. The theoretical formalism is implemented in a homemade computer program written in FORTRAN. Numerical results concerning spatial distributions of both internal and external fields are displayed in different formats in order to properly display exemplifying results. More specifically, as an example, we consider the case of a focused fundamental Gaussian beam (TEM(00) mode) illuminating a glass sphere (having a real refractive index equal to 1.50) with an eccentrically located spherical water inclusion (having a real refractive index equal to 1.33). Displayed results are for various parameters of the incident electromagnetic beam (incident orientation, beam waist radius, location of the beam waist center) and of the scatterer system (location of the inclusion inside the host sphere and relative diameter of the inclusion to the host sphere).

Periodic orbits in Hamiltonian chaos of the annular billiard.

We consider the motion of trajectories in the annular billiard, constituted of a circle with an internal, perfectly reflecting, eccentrically located secondary circle, displaying a generic Hamiltonian behavior (including periodic orbits, invariant curves, and chaotic areas). Periodic orbits embedded in the phase space are systematically investigated, with a focus on inclusion-touching periodic orbits, up to symmetrical orbits of period 6. Candidates for periodic orbits are detected by investigating grayscale distance charts and, afterward, each candidate is validated (or rejected) by using analytical and/or numerical methods. This Hamiltonian problem with Hamiltonian chaos (mechanical language) may equivalently be viewed as an optical problem with optical chaos (expressed with a geometrical optics language). It then may be extended to the study of interaction between a laser beam (or a plane wave as a limit) and a sphere with an eccentrically located spherical inclusion, this interaction being described by a generalized Lorenz-Mie theory recently established. Inclusion-touching periodic orbits in the annular billiard may generate a new class of morphology-dependent resonances in the associated extended generalized Lorenz-Mie theory problem.

Light-transmittance predictions under multiple-light-scattering conditions. I. Direct problem: hybrid-method approximation.

Our aim is to present a method of predicting light transmittances through dense three-dimensional layered media. A hybrid method is introduced as a combination of the four-flux method with coefficients predicted from a Monte Carlo statistical model to take into account the actual three-dimensional geometry of the problem under study. We present the principles of the hybrid method, some exemplifying results of numerical simulations, and their comparison with results obtained from Bouguer-Lambert-Beer law and from Monte Carlo simulations.

Light-transmittance predictions under multiple-light-scattering conditions. II. Inverse problem: particle size determination.

Our aim is to present the application of the hybrid method presented in part I to an inverse procedure to determine particle size and concentration under multiple-scattering conditions. The hybrid method is introduced as a combination of the four-flux method with coefficients obtained from Monte Carlo statistical simulations to take into account the actual three-dimensional geometry. Then an inversion scheme is expanded to enable the application of the hybrid method to particle size and concentration determination. We present the inversion method as well as exemplifying results of spectrum inversions.

Laboratory determination of beam-shape coefficients for use in generalized lorenz-mie theory.

The use of the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory (GLMT) requires knowledge of beam-shape coefficients (BSC's) that describe the beam illuminating a spherical scatterer. We theoretically demonstrated that these BSC's can be determined from an actual beam in the laboratory. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical proposal by determining BSC's for a He-Ne laser beam focused to a diameter of a few micrometers. Once these BSC's are determined, the electromagnetic fields of the illuminating beam may be evaluated. By relying on the GLMT, we can also determine all properties of the interaction between beam and scatterer, including mechanical effects (radiation pressures and torques).

Scattering of laser pulses (plane wave and focused gaussian beam) by spheres.

The scattering of laser pulses (in the femtosecond-picosecond range) by large spheres is investigated. We call a sphere large when its diameter is larger than the length associated with the pulse duration, allowing one to observe the temporal separation of scattering modes including surface waves.

?erenkov-based radiation from superluminal excitation in microdroplets by ultrashort pulses.

We demonstrate from a generalized Lorenz-Mie theory that ultrashort pulses can induce superluminal excitation in microdroplets. A ?erenkov-like effect can thus be expected for sufficiently intense ultrashort pulses.

Localized approximation for gaussian beams in elliptical cylinder coordinates.

We establish a localized approximation to evaluate the beam-shape coefficients of a Gaussian beam in elliptical cylinder coordinates. As for the case of spherical coordinates and of circular cylinder coordinates, this approximation provides an efficient way to speed up computations within the framework of a generalized Lorenz-Mie theory for elliptical cylinders.

Hypothesis: hyperstructures regulate bacterial structure and the cell cycle.

A myriad different constituents or elements (genes, proteins, lipids, ions, small molecules etc.) participate in numerous physico-chemical processes to create bacteria that can adapt to their environments to survive, grow and, via the cell cycle, reproduce. We explore the possibility that it is too difficult to explain cell cycle progression in terms of these elements and that an intermediate level of explanation is needed. This level is that of hyperstructures. A hyperstructure is large, has usually one particular function, and contains many elements. Non-equilibrium, or even dissipative, hyperstructures that, for example, assemble to transport and metabolize nutrients may comprise membrane domains of transporters plus cytoplasmic metabolons plus the genes that encode the hyperstructure's enzymes. The processes involved in the putative formation of hyperstructures include: metabolite-induced changes to protein affinities that result in metabolon formation, lipid-organizing forces that result in lateral and transverse asymmetries, post-translational modifications, equilibration of water structures that may alter distributions of other molecules, transertion, ion currents, emission of electromagnetic radiation and long range mechanical vibrations. Equilibrium hyperstructures may also exist such as topological arrays of DNA in the form of cholesteric liquid crystals. We present here the beginning of a picture of the bacterial cell in which hyperstructures form to maximize efficiency and in which the properties of hyperstructures drive the cell cycle.

The mechanical advantages of DNA.

The elastic properties of DNA and the contractile activities of enzymes involved in transcription, translation and supercoiling may have contributed to the ability of early cells (protocells) to withstand turgor pressure. In the hypothesis proposed here, resistance to turgor resulted from (1) the elastic properties of DNA which was connected to the membrane by association with positively charged lipids and with membrane peptides, (2) the coupled transcription-translation-insertion of peptides into membrane--transertion--which connected membranes with phase-condensed DNA, and (3) the action of topoisomerases which supercoiled and shortened DNA. The existence of a negative feedback system is also proposed to explain how weakened regions of membrane were preferentially strengthened. It may prove possible to test this hypothesis by studying transertion using optical tweezers and by studying wall-less L-form bacteria.

Scattering of a gaussian beam by an infinite cylinder with arbitrary location and arbitrary orientation: numerical results.

We present numerical results concerning the properties of the electromagnetic field scattered by an infinite circular cylinder illuminated by a circular Gaussian beam. The cylinder is arbitrarily located and arbitrarily oriented with respect to the illuminating Gaussian beam. Numerical evaluations are provided within the framework of a rigorous electromagnetic theory, the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory, for infinite cylinders. This theory provides new insights that could not be obtained from older formulations, i.e., geometrical optics and plane-wave scattering. In particular, some emphasis is laid on the waveguiding effect and on the rainbow phenomenon whose fine structure is hardly predictable by use of geometrical optics.

Cylindrical localized approximation to speed up computations for Gaussian beams in the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory for cylinders, with arbitrary location and orientation of the scatterer.

A cylindrical localized approximation to speed up numerical computations in generalized Lorenz-Mie theory for cylinders, in a special case of perpendicular illumination, was recently introduced and rigorously justified. We generalize this approximation to the case when the cylinder is arbitrarily located and arbitrarily oriented in a Gaussian beam.

Response of phase Doppler anemometer systems to nonspherical droplets.

The Phase Doppler Anemometer (PDA) technique measures particle diameter assuming sphericity. A means for detecting nonsphericity has usually been implemented in commercial PDA systems to avoid sizing errors if the sphericity assumption is not valid. In the present research the response of standard and planar PDA systems is examined experimentally in more detail by passing nonspherical droplets of known shape through the measurement volume. The effectiveness of nonsphericity detection schemes can be evaluated, and furthermore the influence of the droplet oscillations on the frequency and phase evolution of individual signals can be quantified. The light scattering from such particles has been simulated by using geometric optics, and the computed response of standard and planar PDA systems agrees well with the experimental observations. We conclude with some remarks concerning the possibilities of characterizing the nonsphericity with PDA systems.

Improved standard beams with application to reverse radiation pressure.

Recently a so-called standard beam description of Gaussian beams was introduced [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 11, 2503 (1994)]. However, it was afterward observed [Appl. Opt.35, 2702 (1996)] that this description exhibits a finite radius of convergence, limiting its range of applicability. We introduce an improved standard beam description with an infinite radius of convergence. The utility of this improved description is illustrated by evaluation of radiation pressure forces under severe focusing conditions.