Parallel execution of Mie scattering events

Mie theory describes the scattering of electromagnetic waves on spheroidal particles whose diameter is small compared to the wavelength of the incident radiation. A variety of computer algorithms exist to calculate scattering parameters. These are sufficiently exact but computationally slow, so the simulation of radiation transport in a medium can be a time consuming task. To our best knowledge no attempt has been made to adapt algorithms to parallel processors such as programmable graphics adapters. We have implemented a parallel algorithm to calculate perpendicular and parallel polarization of scattered waves, from which other scattering parameters can be derived. This facilitates simultaneous tracking of particular waves in scattering media. Our code can be invoked from scripting languages like Matlab. It can be invoked from high-level languages such as C/C++ and is executable on conventional processors as well. We tested our approach using Monte Carlo simulations. The results correspond to reference implementations. We have shown that execution time can be reduced significantly compared to sequential approaches.