Stokes parameters

Stokes parameters
Name	Stokes parameters
Quantity	Polarization state of electromagnetic radiation
Unit	W·m^−2·sr^−1 (for intensity-related use)

Contents

Stokes parameters The Stokes parameters provide a complete description of the polarization state of electromagnetic radiation used across optics, astronomy, and remote sensing. Influential in the work of George Gabriel Stokes, the parameters are employed by researchers at institutions such as Cavendish Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, European Space Agency, and National Institute of Standards and Technology in experiments ranging from telescopes like Hubble Space Telescope to laboratories at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Imperial College London.

Introduction

The formalism was introduced by George Gabriel Stokes in the 19th century and later incorporated into frameworks used by teams at Royal Society, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of Cambridge, and Princeton University. It complements classical developments by researchers connected to James Clerk Maxwell and experimentalists at Bell Labs, and has been central to advances in polarization studies by groups at NASA and observatories like Keck Observatory and Very Large Telescope.

The four parameters I, Q, U, and V are defined using time-averaged products of orthogonal electric field components, building on mathematical tools used at Trinity College, Cambridge and in texts from publishers such as Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. Expressions for the parameters are often presented in treatments by authors affiliated with University of Chicago and Stanford University, and are employed in signal processing analyses similar to those at Bell Labs Research and IBM Research. Mathematically, the parameters are combined into a vector and matrix formalism used in linear algebra curricula at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and numerical packages developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

I represents total intensity measured by instruments at facilities like National Radio Astronomy Observatory and European Southern Observatory, while Q and U describe linear polarization components relevant to observations from Atacama Large Millimeter Array and experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. V quantifies circular polarization detected in studies at Arecibo Observatory and in polarimetric surveys by teams at Cornell University. Typical polarization states such as linear, circular, and elliptical are classified in studies associated with Royal Astronomical Society and displayed in polarimetry instrumentation at Yerkes Observatory.

Polarimeters and modulators developed at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, and Space Telescope Science Institute measure the parameters via rotating analyzers, waveplates, and beam splitters used in setups at National Physical Laboratory (UK), Argonne National Laboratory, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Calibration procedures rely on standards produced by National Institute of Standards and Technology and methodologies disseminated by conferences hosted at Optical Society of America and SPIE. Data reduction pipelines implemented by teams at European Southern Observatory and Jet Propulsion Laboratory treat instrumental polarization, sky background, and detector noise.

Stokes-parameter analysis is used in cosmic microwave background studies conducted by collaborations at Planck (spacecraft), Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, and teams at Princeton University, in solar physics observed by Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and Hinode (satellite), and in remote sensing missions by Landsat program and Copernicus Programme. Polarimetric imaging is applied in biomedical optics at Johns Hopkins University and Mayo Clinic, in material characterization at Fraunhofer Society and National Institute of Standards and Technology, and in telecommunications research at Bell Labs and Nokia Bell Labs. Astronomical investigations at Keck Observatory, Subaru Telescope, and Very Large Array use the parameters to study magnetic fields in pulsars, quasars, and interstellar medium phenomena explored by researchers at California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley.

The Mueller calculus and Jones calculus, developed in contexts including Rochester Institute of Technology and publications by Institute of Physics, extend the parameters for media and optical systems studied at University of Oxford and ETH Zurich. Quantum generalizations link to work at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and CERN on photon polarization, while statistical treatments relate to research at Bell Labs Research and IBM Research. Multispectral and hyperspectral polarimetry programs at European Space Agency and NASA incorporate generalized Stokes formalisms into retrieval algorithms developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Universität Heidelberg.

Category:Polarization