Abstract
The measurement of Mueller matrices provides a useful way of increasing the information obtainable from scattering experiments. Nevertheless, the analysis of this information is not a simple matter because of the complicated relationships between the elements of these matrices. This chapter deals with the properties of Mueller matrices and with the analysis of physical parameters measurable by polarimetric techniques. First, the case of scattering systems that do not reduce the degree of polarization of totally-polarized incident light is studied. The “pure Mueller matrices” corresponding to these kinds of system are studied and classified by means of their polar decomposition. The general structure of Mueller matrices is then studied and is applied to the “parallel decomposition”of the scattering system. A comparison of Mueller matrices with “Stokes matrices”, the Transmittance Condition, a Purity Criterion, the Degree of Purity and Polarizance parameters are also dealt with.
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Gil, J.J. (2000). Mueller Matrices. In: Moreno, F., González, F. (eds) Light Scattering from Microstructures. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 534. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-46614-2_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-46614-2_4
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