Dust Scattering In Turbulent Media: Correlation Between The Scattered
  Light and Dust Column Density
  Radiative transfer models in a spherical, turbulent interstellar medium (ISM)
in which the photon source is situated at the center are calculated to
investigate the correlation between the scattered light and the dust column
density. The medium is modeled using fractional Brownian motion structures that
are appropriate for turbulent ISM. The correlation plot between the scattered
light and optical depth shows substantial scatter and deviation from simple
proportionality. It was also found that the overall density contrast is
smoothed out in scattered light. In other words, there is an enhancement of the
dust-scattered flux in low-density regions, while the scattered flux is
suppressed in high-density regions. The correlation becomes less significant as
the scattering becomes closer to be isotropic and the medium becomes more
turbulent. Therefore, the scattered light observed in near-infrared wavelengths
would show much weaker correlation than the observations in optical and
ultraviolet wavelengths. We also find that the correlation plot between
scattered lights at two different wavelengths shows a tighter correlation than
that of the scattered light versus the optical depth.
