Conclusions

Abstract

Central to this thesis has been the characterisation and exploitation of the opportunities afforded by the electromagnetic (i.e. vectorial) nature of light. To this end the work presented can be seen to follow one of three running themes: quantification of polarisation information; analytic formulations so as to simplify the propagation of electromagnetic waves; and development of specific polarisation based optical systems.

In light of knowledge attained, the happy achievement seems almost a matter of course, and any intelligent student can grasp it without too much trouble. But the years of anxious searching in the dark, with their intense longing, their alterations of confidence and exhaustion and the final emergence into the light—only those who have experienced it can understand it. Albert Einstein