Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
Correlation matrix of a completely polarized, statistically stationary electromagnetic field
Jeremy Ellis1, Aristide Dogariu, Sergey Ponomarenko
1School of Optics, Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers, University of Central Florida, Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32816-2700, USA.
Abstract:
It is shown that, for a 3 x 3 correlation matrix Wij(r, r, omega), (i, j = x, y, z) of the electric vector of a random, stationary electromagnetic field to represent a field that is completely polarized at a point r and frequency omega, each element of the matrix must factorize. More precisely, a necessary and sufficient condition for the correlation matrix to represent a fully polarized field at a point r is that the matrix has the form Wij(r, r, omega) = epsilon(i)*(r, omega)epsilon(j)(r, omega), where epsilon(i)(r, omega) (i = x, y, z) are deterministic functions, i.e., that all pairs of the Cartesian components of the electric field at a point r and frequency omega are completely correlated.
Related Concept Videos
Plane Electromagnetic Waves I
The EM field is assumed to be a...
Standing Electromagnetic Waves
Suppose a sheet of a perfect conductor is placed in the yz-plane, and a linearly polarized electromagnetic wave traveling in the...
Plane Electromagnetic Waves II
Electromagnetic Wave Equation
However, although electric and magnetic fields were first introduced as mathematical constructs to simplify the description of mutual forces between charges, a natural question emerges from Maxwell's equations: What...
Potential Due to a Polarized Object
Polar Coordinates: Problem Solving
