Polarization beating of random electromagnetic beams

Abstract

We consider temporal interference of two stationary, quasi-monochromatic, partially polarized optical beams with different mean frequencies. We show that both the intensity and the polarization state, represented by the Stokes parameters, exhibit beating, i.e., periodic temporal variation with frequency specified by the difference of the mean frequencies. The contrasts, or visibilities, of the Stokes-parameter changes are characterized by the equal-time electromagnetic degree of coherence between the beams. If the beams are otherwise identical random processes, but with spectra centered at different frequencies, then the polarization modulation is characterized by the degree of polarization, consistently with a recent interferometric interpretation of this quantity. Our results provide insight into the role of polarization in beating of electromagnetic waves.