Classical Electrodynamics Gabriel Barello

Jackson 7.1
Recall the definitions of a1 , a2 , a+ and a− as

E1 = a1 eiδ1 , E2 = a2 E iδ2 (Linear Basis) (1)

iδ+ iδ−
E+ = a+ e , E− = a− e (Circular Basis) (2)

Recall the equation relating the stokes parameters to the polarization and amplitude in the linear and circularly polarized
bases

Linear Circular (3)

2
s0 = |1 · E| + |2 · E| = 2
a21 + a22 s0 = |∗+ · E| + |∗− · E|2 = a2+ + a2−
2
(4)
2
s1 = |1 · E| − |2 · E| = 2
a21 − a22 s2 = 2Re[(∗+ · E)∗ (∗− · E)] = 2a+ a− cos(δ− − δ+ ) (5)
∗
s2 = 2Re[(1 · E) (2 · E)] = 2a1 a2 cos(δ2 − δ1 ) s3 = 2Im[(∗+ · E)∗ (∗− · E)] = 2a+ a− sin(δ− − δ+ ) (6)
∗
s3 = 2Im[(1 · E) (2 · E)] = 2a1 a2 sin(δ2 − δ1 ) s1 = |∗+ · E|2 − |∗− · E|2 = a2+ − a2− (7)

From which we can deduce, taking δ1 = δ+ = 0

Linear Circular (8)

r r
s0 + s1 s0 + s3
a1 = , a+ = (9)
2 2
r r
s0 − s1 s0 − s3
a2 = , a− = (10)
2 2
s ! s !
s22 s22
δ2 = arccos , δ− = arccos (11)
s20 − s21 s20 − s23

Now I can just make a fun little mathematica notebook which takes in stokes parameters and spits out plots!

Linear Circular
Amplitude
√ Phase Aplitude
√ Phase
π
a. 3 4 3 arccos( √25 )
24
b. 5 arccos( 25 ) 5 0

1.0

0.5
1

-1.0 -0.5 0.5 1.0 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3

-1
-0.5

-2

-1.0

-3

Where the left figure depicts the field for part a. and the right figure for part b.