Theory of fluorescence depolarization by anisotropic rotational diffusion

The general expressions for the time-dependent fluorescence depolarization caused by anisotropic rotation diffusion have been obtained. It is shown that after an instantaneous exciting light pulse, the parallel and perpendicular components of fluorescence can have a maximum of six exponential decays and the difference of these two components a maximum of five decays. The present results differ from those of previous studies and the differences are discussed.