CHAOTIC SCATTERING OF LIGHT BY A DIELECTRIC CYLINDER

The scattering of light by a ''stadium-shaped'' dielectric cylinder is discussed. In the geometrical-optics limit, the scattering is chaotic, leading to a cross section with a complicated set of rainbow singularities. Wave effects, which soften these singularities into smooth peaks, are estimated by mapping the light-scattering problem onto the quantum-mechanical scattering of a particle by a potential well and applying a semiclassical approximation. Conditions necessary for the experimental observation of chaotic effects are discussed.