Mueller Polarimetry
Build optical systems using Mueller matrices and analyze polarization transformations.
S_out = M · S_in, M_total = M_n · ... · M_2 · M_1
Mueller calculus: 4×4 matrices operate on 4×1 Stokes vectors
Convention (Goldstein): RCP = [1, i]/√2 turns clockwise as seen by the receiver; S₃ > 0 is right-handed.
Input Stokes Vector
Element 1
Element 2
Output S₀
1.000
Output DOP
100.0%
Final Intensity
0.500
Analyzer Scan
Output Stokes
S₁
1.000
S₂
0.000
S₃
0.000
|S|
1.000
Model and references
Exact. The equations are exact within the stated assumptions, or are a standard's tabulated values. The results are as good as the inputs. About the tiers
Ideal polarizer, retarder, rotator and depolarizer diag(1, d, d, d) with d = 1 − p/100, element 1 first, Goldstein signs; then an ideal analyzer, I = ½(S₀ + S₁ cos 2θ + S₂ sin 2θ).
- Goldstein D. H. (2011). Polarized Light, 3rd ed., ch. Mueller Matrices for Polarizing Components, pp. 93–115. CRC Press. doi:10.1201/b10436
- Cloude S. R. (1986). Group theory and polarisation algebra. Optik 75, 26–36: a Mueller matrix is physical when its coherency matrix has no negative eigenvalue.