Abstract
In this paper we show that the fine structure of vertical-horizontal (V-H) light scattering is due to the local order in the liquid. Use is made of the hydrodynamics equations obtained in a previous paper which introduced two tensors to characterize the local order. When one of these tensors is neglected with regard to the other (the one-tensor approximation), the spectrum given previously by different authors is obtained. It is shown in which cases this approximation is valid. The V-H spectrum for the light scattered by a liquid of spherical molecules is also given. The spectrum is computed in the general case when the two tensors are of the same order. In such a case, a spectrum is obtained which gives the broad background observed some years ago, and also the experimental results obtained recently in supercooled liquids which cannot be explained with the one-tensor approximation. The results are compared with previous theories, and it is shown that a generalization of all the previous results is obtained.