Abstract

The effect of the multiplication of two vector electric fields by random Jones matrices on their coherence properties is investigated by analyzing their interference fringes. It is shown that these random modulations cannot increase the maximal visibility obtained when the polarization states of the two analyzed electric fields are optimized. This new result generalizes a standard property of perfectly polarized light to partially polarized light and is representative of the irreversible effects of random modulations.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

Irreversible effects of random unitary transformations on coherence properties of partially polarized electromagnetic fields

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