A theory that describes the resonant scattering of light from a randomly rough surface is developed, based upon the rearranged vector Rayleigh equation obtained in previous work. Flux conservation in the intermediate states is ensured by deriving a Ward identity for the self-energy and irreducible vertex function. Approximate closed-form expressions for the differential reflection coefficients of a rough surface for p- and s-polarized light are given, and the results of numerical calculations are compared with some recent experimental results.

• Received 2 July 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.31.4993