RAY OPTICS REGIME FOR GAUSSIAN RANDOM SPHERES

We examine the validity regime of the ray optics approximation for Gau ssian random spheres. The Gaussian sphere is fully characterized by th e mean and the covariance function of the radius. We calculate the fir st two moments of the total, Gaussian curvature on such particles, and utilize the second moment in establishing the ray optics regime. As a n intermediate result, we obtain the 6x6 covariance matrix for the log arithmic radius and its first and second partial derivatives with resp ect to the spherical angles. The results are useful when analysing the applicability of our earlier ray optics computations for ensembles of Gaussian spheres. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.