Monte Carlo modeling of light propagation can accurately predict the distribution of light in scattering materials. A drawback of Monte Carlo methods is that they converge inversely with the square root of the number of iterations. Theoretical considerations suggest that convergence which scales inversely with the first power of the number of iterations is possible. We have previously shown that one can obtain at least a portion of that improvement by using van der Corput sequences in place of a conventional pseudo-random number generator. Here, we present our further analysis, and show that quasi-Monte Carlo methods do have limited applicability to light scattering problems. We also discuss potential improvements which may increase the applicability.

Date Published: 7 May 1996
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 2681, Laser-Tissue Interaction VII, (7 May 1996); doi: 10.1117/12.239590

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2681:
Laser-Tissue Interaction VII
Steven L. Jacques, Editor(s)