Matrix approach for resonant multiple scattering of light – MARS_light

With the recent development of wavefront shaping techniques for light waves, a large variety of coherent effects in disordered systems has been demonstrated and exploited. The goal of the MARS_light project is to push forward this evolution by providing a theory for the scattering matrix of strongly scattering media made of resonant units. Although resonant materials are nowadays at the heart of atomic and molecular physics and nanophotonics, they have not been considered in wavefront shaping protocols so far. We propose to study the statistical properties of large matrices that characterize both stationary and dynamical transport features. This includes the reflection and transmission matrices on the one hand, and the delay time and dwell time matrices on the other.

Our objective is threefold: 1) characterize the open channels of resonant multiple scattering systems and identify efficient strategies to control their number; 2) study the possibility to tune the transit times of wave packets inside these media; 3) quantify the total amount of energy we can store in these strongly open and complex systems by wavefront shaping. To achieve this objective, we will consider different types of resonant scattering units (single-resonance dipoles, coupled electric and magnetic dipoles, Mie-type resonators), and characterize wave propagation in large disordered two- and three-dimensional ensembles of such units by means of advanced numerical and analytical tools (vectorial coupled dipole method, recursive Green’s function method, random matrix theory of wave transport, non-Hermitian quasi-mode theory).