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Published on: September 5, 2019
Singular polarimetry: evolution of polarization singularities in electromagnetic waves propagating in a weakly
Konstantin Yu Bliokh1, Avi Niv, Vladimir Kleiner
1Optical Engineering Laboratory, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel. k.bliokh@gmail.com
Abstract:
We describe the evolution of a paraxial electromagnetic wave characterizing by a non-uniform polarization distribution with singularities and propagating in a weakly anisotropic medium. Our approach is based on the Stokes vector evolution equation applied to a non-uniform initial polarization field. In the case of a homogeneous medium, this equation is integrated analytically. This yields a 3-dimensional distribution of the polarization parameters containing singularities, i.e. C-lines of circular polarization and L-surfaces of linear polarization. The general theory is applied to specific examples of the unfolding of a vectorial vortex in birefringent and dichroic media.
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