ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the necessary theoretical background of static light scattering and quasielastic light scattering and discusses experimental trends and open questions. It argues that a detailed knowledge of the underlying physical and mathematical principles is necessary for an understanding of many phenomena observed with light scattering. The chapter provides a qualitative explanation and interpretation of the important equations in the theoretical section and to point out their most important implications to biological and environmental applications. It considers the influence of polydispersity on the static and the dynamic light scattering experiments for both noninteracting and interacting colloidal particles in suspension. The chapter shows how a combination of static and dynamic light scattering and concepts from fractal geometry can be used to study aggregation processes found, for example, in biological samples or environmental samples. Light scattering is particularly sensitive to the presence of dust or a few large oligomeric particles.
