Open AccessPurity-depolarization relations and the components of purity of a Mueller matrix
Author(s) -
Anum Tariq,
Honghui He,
Pengcheng Li,
Hui Ma
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.022645
Subject(s) - mueller calculus , depolarization , polarimetry , matrix (chemical analysis) , optics , eigenvalues and eigenvectors , covariance matrix , physics , refractive index , characterization (materials science) , materials science , scattering , mathematics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , medicine , composite material , endocrinology
A comprehensive physically realizable space, namely, the overall purity index-components of purity (PI 4D -CP) space is proposed for the characterization of the depolarization caused by random (or deterministic) media. The overall purity index (PI 4D )is obtained via indices of polarimetric purity which are incurred by the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix, whereas the components of purity (CP) are the functions of the elements of a Mueller matrix. On the one hand, the proposed space is useful in studying the depolarization caused by material media and on the other hand, it provides information on the diattenuation-polarizance properties of a Mueller matrix. Thus, it gives a remarkable physical insight of the depolarization problem.