Abstract
The evolution of a polarized beam can be described by the differential formulation of Mueller calculus. The nondepolarizing differential Mueller matrices are well known. However, they only account for 7 out of the 16 independent parameters that are necessary to model a general anisotropic depolarizing medium. In this work we present the nine differential Mueller matrices for general depolarizing media, highlighting the physical implications of each of them. Group theory is applied to establish the relationship between the differential matrix and the set of transformation generators in the Minkowski space, of which Lorentz generators constitute a particular subgroup.
Highlights
Among the matricial methods for the study of polarized light interaction with media, Mueller calculus has emerged as a powerful technique due to its ability to deal with partially polarized light and depolarization effects
In 1948 Jones proposed the differential formulation of his calculus for the study of the evolution of totally polarized light in anisotropic media [2]
An analogous procedure was performed for Mueller calculus, and the differential Mueller–Jones matrices for nondepolarizing anisotropic media were obtained in full parallelism with Jones’ approach [3]
Summary
Among the matricial methods for the study of polarized light interaction with media, Mueller calculus has emerged as a powerful technique due to its ability to deal with partially polarized light and depolarization effects. An analogous procedure was performed for Mueller calculus, and the differential Mueller–Jones matrices for nondepolarizing anisotropic media were obtained in full parallelism with Jones’ approach [3]. In this Letter we present and discuss the differential Mueller matrices for depolarizing media. They complete the set of 16 differential Mueller matrices that fully describe general anisotropic depolarizing media.
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