Nonlinear diffuse reflection and transmission of radiative energy by a layer of finite thickness

ISSN： 0571-7256

Source： Astrophysics, Vol.53, Iss.2, 2010-04, pp. : 251-267

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Abstract

The major results for the linear problem of diffuse reflection and transmission of radiation by a layer of finite thickness are carried over to the nonlinear case by successive application of Ambartsumyan’s approach for a one dimensional anisotropic medium. Formulas are given for nonlinear addition of layers which can be used to construct recurrence calculation procedures for uniform, periodic, and arbitrary stratified media. A complete set of differential equations for invariant imbedding is derived with the aid of these formulas. These equations are used to obtain a system of total invariance equations, which, in turn, offer the possibility of reducing the nonlinear problem of diffuse reflection and transmission during irradiation of a layer from both sides to the simpler problem of illuminating this medium from only one side, with the thickness of the layer remaining only as a fixed parameter. Finally, it is shown that the results obtained for the single frequency case (two-level atom) remain valid in the polychromatic case (multilevel atom), which is important for interpreting astrophysical data.