Experimental evidence for naturally occurring nondiagonal depolarizers
Razvigor Ossikovski1, Martin Foldyna, Clément Fallet
1LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS 91128 Palaiseau, France. razvigor.ossikovski@polytechnique.edu
Abstract:
We report on two Stokes nondiagonalizable Mueller matrices experimentally observed in a biological and in an organic sample. These matrices are examples of naturally occurring nondiagonal depolarizers whose unique property is to preserve the degree of polarization of all but one totally polarized light state. The description of the experimental matrices within the theory of Bragg scattering on cholesteric liquid crystals, as well as their interpretation in physical and structural terms, are likewise addressed.
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