Faraday Rotation in a Disordered Medium

Abstract: The Faraday rotation angle is calculated in a diffusive regime in a three dimensional disordered slab. It is shown that it is an oscillating function of the magnetic field or the mediums internal properties, and is proportional to the ratio of the inelastic mean free path to the mean free path, that is to the average number of photon scatterings. The maximum rotation is achieved at frequencies when the photons elastic mean free path is minimal. We have obtained the rotation angle of polar backscattered light taking into account the maximally crossed diagrams. The latter leads to an ellipticity in the backscattered wave that can serve as precursor of weak localization.