Transitivity in polarization optics and the diagonalization of quadratic forms

الأصل · EN

Any one measurement with polarized light makes it possible to fix the Mueller matrices of the Lorentz type with up to four arbitrary numeric parameters (x, u; z, w). These parameters are subject to the quadratic condition. It is demonstrated that the quadratic form can be diagonalized; in the case of partially polarized light four diagonal coefficients turn out to benon-zero and positive; in the case of completely polarized light two diagonal coefficients equal to zero.