An optimization method with precomputed starting points for solving the inverse Mie problem

We study the inverse light-scattering problem which arises in the characterization of small particles by means of scanning flow cytometry. The problem is stated in general form as the problem of solution of a nonlinear equation and solved by the gradient optimization method. In this event, the problem of choosing the starting point appears. In this paper, we propose a method for making this choice based on the preliminary analysis of the direct map. A number of numerical examples are given, using both synthetic and experimental data.