Extinction paradox
# Extinction paradox

In the small wavelength limit, the total scattering cross-section of an impenetrable sphere is twice its geometrical cross-sectional area (which is the value obtained in classical mechanics).

Several explanations for this phenomenon have been proposed:

* destructive interference inside particle shadow
* diffraction and shadowing of light by particle
* superposition of incident and scattered field
* cancellation of incident wave inside particle
