Density operator for unpolarized radiation

Hari Prakash, Naresh Chandra

The general form of the density operator for unpolarized radiation is obtained. It is shown that if two orthogonally polarized components of unpolarized radiation are statistically independent, the radiation is necessarily chaotic. It is also shown that the procedure currently being used for studying interactions of unpolarized radiation is not correct, and that Stokes's parameters do not correctly specify the unpolarized state of radiation.

Hari Prakash, Naresh Chandra

A direct derivation of the forms of density operator and phase-space distribution functions for unpolarized radiation is given.Received 1 August 1973DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.9.1021©1974 American Physical Society

Alicija Kupliauskienė

An expression for the probability of the excitation of polarized atoms by polarized radiation is obtained by using the graphical technique of angular momentum. In the case of pure states, the applied method is an alternative to that of density matrix formalism. The obtained expression enables one to describe the polarization state of an excited atom and can be used to derive formulas for the special cases under specific experimental conditions as well as for the photoexcitation as the first step process. The application of obtained expressions for the description of multistep processes is discussed. The photoexcitation of unpolarized atoms by polarized radiation and polarized atoms by unpolarized radiation is considered as the examples of practical application of the obtained general expression.

Eiichi Hanamura, Yutaka Kawabe, Akio Yamanaka