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Sound waves in solid materials exhibit polarization. Differential propagation of the three polarizations through the earth is a crucial in the field of seismology. Horizontally and vertically polarized seismic waves (shear waves) are termed SH and SV, while waves with longitudinal polarization (compressional waves) are termed P-waves.
Circular polarization is often encountered in the field of optics and, in this section, the electromagnetic wave will be simply referred to as light. The nature of circular polarization and its relationship to other polarizations is often understood by thinking of the electric field as being divided into two components that are perpendicular to ...
Polarization (physics), the ability of waves to oscillate in more than one direction; polarization of light allows the glare-reducing effect of polarized sunglasses Polarization (antenna) , the state of polarization (in the above sense) of electromagnetic waves transmitted by or received by a radio antenna
Photon polarization is the quantum mechanical description of the classical polarized sinusoidal plane electromagnetic wave. An individual photon can be described as having right or left circular polarization , or a superposition of the two.
An elliptically polarized wave may be resolved into two linearly polarized waves in phase quadrature, with their polarization planes at right angles to each other. Since the electric field can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise as it propagates, elliptically polarized waves exhibit chirality .
[1] [11] Hence D, E, the wave-normal direction, and the ray direction are all in the same plane, and it is all the more natural to define that plane as the "plane of polarization". This "natural" definition, however, depends on the theory of EM waves developed by James Clerk Maxwell in the 1860s — whereas the word polarization was coined ...
Physical optics is used to explain effects such as diffraction. In physics, physical optics, or wave optics, is the branch of optics that studies interference, diffraction, polarization, and other phenomena for which the ray approximation of geometric optics is not valid.
See polarization and plane of polarization for more information. The orientation of a linearly polarized electromagnetic wave is defined by the direction of the electric field vector. [2] For example, if the electric field vector is vertical (alternately up and down as the wave travels) the radiation is said to be vertically polarized.