Topology of polarization-ellipse strips in the light scattered by a dielectric nanosphere

Numerical modeling of scattering of a plane elliptically polarized monochromatic wave on a silicon spherical nanoparticle is carried out. In the resulting light field near the particle, the topology of strips, formed by the axes of the polarization ellipses and the normal vectors to their planes, is studied. The strips may have one half-twist only if they enclose a circular polarization singularity line, while almost all other strips, even...