Direct observation of diffraction-induced far-field polarization effects in electromagnetic beams

Change of Polarization Degree of Light Beams on Propagation in Curved Space

“…From the cross-spectral density matrix, one can find an intimate relation between the degree of coherence and the degree of polarization, which implies that the degree of polarization of a partially coherent light beam on the observation plane directly depends on the degree of coherence and polarization on the source plane [5]. The discussions of the polarization degree changes in the cases of Young's interference experiment [6,7], the diffraction from a circular aperture [8,9], and general paraxial optical systems [10] have been studied in the past decade.…”