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Circular polarization and linear polarization can be considered to be special cases of elliptical polarization. This terminology was introduced by Augustin-Jean Fresnel in 1822, [1] before the electromagnetic nature of light waves was known. Elliptical polarization diagram
Circular polarization is a limiting case of elliptical polarization. The other special case is the easier-to-understand linear polarization. All three terms were coined by Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a memoir read to the French Academy of Sciences on 9 December 1822.
In the case of elliptical polarization (circular polarization is in reality just a kind of elliptical polarization where the length of both elasticity factors is the same), filtering out a single angle (e.g. 90°) will have virtually no impact as the wave at any time can be in any of the 360 degrees.
The term linear polarization (French: polarisation rectiligne) was coined by Augustin-Jean Fresnel in 1822. [1] 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]
Later, he coined the terms linear polarization, circular polarization, and elliptical polarization, explained how optical rotation could be understood as a difference in propagation speeds for the two directions of circular polarization, and (by allowing the reflection coefficient to be complex) accounted for the change in polarization due to ...
These alternate circular motions produce right and left circularly polarized waves. To the extent your circle is imperfect, a regular motion will describe an ellipse, and produce elliptically polarized waves. At the extreme of eccentricity your ellipse will become a straight line, producing linear polarization along the major axis of the ellipse.
In the special case in which the incoming s and p components not only are in phase but also have equal magnitudes, the initial linear polarization is at 45° to the plane of incidence and reflection, and the final elliptical polarization is circular.
The quantum polarization state vector for the photon, for instance, is identical with the Jones vector, usually used to describe the polarization of a classical wave. Unitary operators emerge from the classical requirement of the conservation of energy of a classical wave propagating through lossless media that alter the polarization state of ...