Temporal Autocorrelation Functions of PMD Variables in the Anisotropic Hinge Model

Abstract

We present analytic expressions for the temporal autocorrelation functions (ACF's) of the polarization mode dispersion (PMD) vector, the squared differential group delay (DGD) and the state of polarization (SOP) in the hinge model for stochastically varying hinges. We also derive the continuous limit of the temporal ACF of the squared DGD. Our studies demonstrate that for large time offsets, the ACF of the PMD vector approaches a constant value that depends principally on the DGD of the last fiber section but is also affected to a diminishing degree by the DGD of preceding fiber sections. We also show that sinusoidal perturbations of the hinge rotation angles do not significantly alter the results. The accuracy of the procedure is further established through comparison with numerical simulations.