L THESIS ABSTRACT FSD) Title: A COMBINATORIAL GROUP-THEORETIC INTRODUCTION TO GEOMETRIC ALGEBRA WITH APPLICATIONS TO LIGHT POLARIZATION No. of Pages: 82 Researcher: Quirino M, Sugon, Jr. Adviser: Fr, Daniel J. McNamara, S.J., Ph.D, Year: 1999 Subject Area: Geometric Algebra and Light Degree Conferred: Master of Science in Physics Statement of the Problem Main Problem: Present a simple, geometric algebra formalism for light polarization. Sub-Problems: Reformulate the Stokes parameters, the Poincare sphere, and the Jones vectors in terms of the electromagnetic field expression of Riesz. Procedure In Chapter II we introduced the Geometric Algebra G,. We showed that we can construct thie algebra from the simple defining relation eyes + 050 = 2045s ay which is the Orthonormality Axiom Al, We then proved that our resulting number system is closed under addition and mltiplication, JtIn Chapter III we chose a particular geonetric algebra --the G, algebra whose basis elements are generated by the three spatial vectors ey, ey, and e,. The most important result that we obtained is the Fundamental Theorem of G3, ab=a'b+a/b=a'bd + i(a bd), (2) vhich unifies many languages in mathemetical physics: ten- sors, vectors, imaginary numbers, quaternions, Pauli spin netrices, and exterior forms. This theorem allowed us to unite the four Maxwell equations into one: (op/e + V)(E #4 H) = (oe - 3). (3) From this equation we obtained the electromagnetic field expression of Riesz: EeEsin. (4) We showed that the square of this expression is invariant under circular rotation transformation, = tHe HO Seeetzc) E=E+in= (Ej +i H))e™ =Eye. (5) In Chepter IV we studied the elliptical (Larnor- Reinich) rotation of the electromagnetic field: E=E+iH=(E) +i Hy) et? = Bet. (6)3] We then defined the spatial inversion operation through the relation Ate,, ) which compelled us to work wita the & (Dirac) algebra. We showed that the product BYE is an invariant under ellip- tical rotation ana is, in fact, proportional to electromag— netic momentum density Sie cl epbaret ey 0 E gE TE = 4 Hp + wip) + 28) Hy. (8) When this is done, we reformulated the Stokes parameterg and combined them with the coherency matrices: eit Boas Uy (9a) ap es ad Jyy (9b) 82 = 2 Eyl) = Jay es (9e) 837 2B Wy = ia, - yy) (9a) We also reformiated the Poincare sphere equetion sg = 2 2 ras 8, +85 +85: (Bp8y) (BBQ) * = (3) *8))(B "B)*. (10)