FREQUENCY SPECTRUM OF DEPOLARIZED LIGHT SCATTERED BY A RIGID MOLECULE IN SOLUTION

The frequency spectrum of the depolarized light scattered from a dilute solution of large, rigid molecules can give information about their principal axis of inertia and therefore their symmetries. It is shown that, for spherical molecules, one finds a single Lorentzian line. In the case of axial symmetry, the spectrum is the sum of two Lorentzian lines. Linewidths and relative intensities of lines are calculated as a function of the optical polarizability tensor and rotational diffusion coefficients of the molecule.