Chandrasekhar Theory of Ellipsoidal Electromagnetic Scatterers

Abstract

A number of new problems in remote sensing and identification of buried compact metallic targets motivate the search for new models that, if not exact, at least enable extremely rapid numerical predictions of electromagnetic scattering/induction data. Here the elegant Chandrasekhar theory of the electrostatics of charged ellipsoids is used to develop an essentially exact, extremely efficient description of low- to intermediate frequency (or late- to intermediate-time) responses of ellipsoidal targets. Comparisons with experimental data demonstrate that, together with a previously developed theory of the high frequency (or early time) regime, the results serve to cover the entire dynamic range encountered in typical measurements.