Explanation of the patterns in Mie theory

The far-field scattered light intensity, or the related phase function, for a spherical particle is known to display an overall power-law structure when formulated in terms of the scattering wave vector. Empirically determined patterns in the intensity relating to the particle size and refractive index are known. The cause of the patterns, however, has not been satisfactorily explained. This work applies an exact microphysical model to explain most of the patterns, and specifically, to reveal the physical cause of crossovers from one power-law to another. A unique aspect of this microphysical approach is phasor analysis, which provides a visually based way to examine the angle-dependent wavelet superposition involved in the model. A simple color coding scheme connects the phasors to the interior of the particle, and it is this connection that reveals the meaning of the crossovers.