Abstract
It is shown that any depolarizing Mueller matrix can be reduced, through a product decomposition, to one of a total of two canonical depolarizer forms, a diagonal and a non-diagonal one. As a consequence, depolarizing Mueller matrices can be divided into Stokes diagonalizable and Stokes non-diagonalizable ones. Properties characteristic of the two canonical depolarizers are identified and discussed. Both canonical depolarizer forms are illustrated in experimental examples taken from the literature.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 123-130 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics and Image Science, and Vision |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2010 |