.. _triaxial-ellipsoid:

triaxial_ellipsoid
=======================================================

Ellipsoid of uniform scattering length density with three independent axes.

================== =================================== ============ =============
Parameter          Description                         Units        Default value
================== =================================== ============ =============
scale              Source intensity                    None                     1
background         Source background                   |cm^-1|              0.001
sld                Ellipsoid scattering length density |1e-6Ang^-2|             4
sld_solvent        Solvent scattering length density   |1e-6Ang^-2|             1
radius_equat_minor Minor equatorial radius, Ra         |Ang|                   20
radius_equat_major Major equatorial radius, Rb         |Ang|                  400
radius_polar       Polar radius, Rc                    |Ang|                   10
theta              polar axis to beam angle            degree                  60
phi                rotation about beam                 degree                  60
psi                rotation about polar axis           degree                  60
================== =================================== ============ =============

The returned value is scaled to units of |cm^-1| |sr^-1|, absolute scale.


**Definition**

.. figure:: img/triaxial_ellipsoid_geometry.jpg

    Ellipsoid with $R_a$ as *radius_equat_minor*, $R_b$ as *radius_equat_major*
    and $R_c$ as *radius_polar*.

Given an ellipsoid

.. math::

    \frac{X^2}{R_a^2} + \frac{Y^2}{R_b^2} + \frac{Z^2}{R_c^2} = 1

the scattering for randomly oriented particles is defined by the average over
all orientations $\Omega$ of:

.. math::

    P(q) = \text{scale}(\Delta\rho)^2\frac{V}{4 \pi}\int_\Omega\Phi^2(qr)\,d\Omega
           + \text{background}

where

.. math::

    \Phi(qr) &= 3 j_1(qr)/qr = 3 (\sin qr - qr \cos qr)/(qr)^3 \\
    r^2 &= R_a^2e^2 + R_b^2f^2 + R_c^2g^2 \\
    V &= \tfrac{4}{3} \pi R_a R_b R_c

The $e$, $f$ and $g$ terms are the projections of the orientation vector on $X$,
$Y$ and $Z$ respectively.  Keeping the orientation fixed at the canonical
axes, we can integrate over the incident direction using polar angle
$-\pi/2 \le \gamma \le \pi/2$ and equatorial angle $0 \le \phi \le 2\pi$
(as defined in ref [1]),

 .. math::

     \langle\Phi^2\rangle = \int_0^{2\pi} \int_{-\pi/2}^{\pi/2} \Phi^2(qr)
                                                \cos \gamma\,d\gamma d\phi

with $e = \cos\gamma \sin\phi$, $f = \cos\gamma \cos\phi$ and $g = \sin\gamma$.
A little algebra yields

.. math::

    r^2 = b^2(p_a \sin^2 \phi \cos^2 \gamma + 1 + p_c \sin^2 \gamma)

for

.. math::

    p_a = \frac{a^2}{b^2} - 1 \text{ and } p_c = \frac{c^2}{b^2} - 1

Due to symmetry, the ranges can be restricted to a single quadrant
$0 \le \gamma \le \pi/2$ and $0 \le \phi \le \pi/2$, scaling the resulting
integral by 8. The computation is done using the substitution $u = \sin\gamma$,
$du = \cos\gamma\,d\gamma$, giving

.. math::

    \langle\Phi^2\rangle &= 8 \int_0^{\pi/2} \int_0^1 \Phi^2(qr) du d\phi \\
    r^2 &= b^2(p_a \sin^2(\phi)(1 - u^2) + 1 + p_c u^2)

Though for convenience we describe the three radii of the ellipsoid as equatorial
and polar, they may be given in $any$ size order. To avoid multiple solutions, especially
with Monte-Carlo fit methods, it may be advisable to restrict their ranges. For typical
small angle diffraction situations there may be a number of closely similar "best fits",
so some trial and error, or fixing of some radii at expected values, may help.

To provide easy access to the orientation of the triaxial ellipsoid,
we define the axis of the cylinder using the angles $\theta$, $\phi$
and $\psi$. These angles are defined analogously to the elliptical_cylinder below, note that
angle $\phi$ is now NOT the same as in the equations above.

.. figure:: img/elliptical_cylinder_angle_definition.png

    Definition of angles for oriented triaxial ellipsoid, where radii are for illustration here
    $a < b << c$ and angle $\Psi$ is a rotation around the axis of the particle.

For oriented ellipsoids the *theta*, *phi* and *psi* orientation parameters will appear when fitting 2D data,
see the :ref:`elliptical-cylinder` model for further information.

.. _triaxial-ellipsoid-angles:

.. figure:: img/triaxial_ellipsoid_angle_projection.png

    Some examples for an oriented triaxial ellipsoid.

The radius-of-gyration for this system is  $R_g^2 = (R_a R_b R_c)^2/5$.

The contrast $\Delta\rho$ is defined as SLD(ellipsoid) - SLD(solvent).  In the
parameters, $R_a$ is the minor equatorial radius, $R_b$ is the major
equatorial radius, and $R_c$ is the polar radius of the ellipsoid.

NB: The 2nd virial coefficient of the triaxial solid ellipsoid is
calculated after sorting the three radii to give the most appropriate
prolate or oblate form, from the new polar radius $R_p = R_c$ and effective equatorial
radius,  $R_e = \sqrt{R_a R_b}$, to then be used as the effective radius for
$S(q)$ when $P(q) \cdot S(q)$ is applied.

**Validation**

Validation of our code was done by comparing the output of the
1D calculation to the angular average of the output of 2D calculation
over all possible angles.



.. figure:: img/triaxial_ellipsoid_autogenfig.png

    1D and 2D plots corresponding to the default parameters of the model.

**References**

[1] Finnigan, J.A., Jacobs, D.J., 1971.
*Light scattering by ellipsoidal particles in solution*,
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 4, 72-77. doi:10.1088/0022-3727/4/1/310

**Authorship and Verification**

* **Author:** NIST IGOR/DANSE **Date:** pre 2010
* **Last Modified by:** Paul Kienzle (improved calculation) **Date:** April 4, 2017
* **Last Reviewed by:** Paul Kienzle & Richard Heenan **Date:**  April 4, 2017

