ABSTRACT
The polarization state of an electromagnetic wave is determined by the direction of its electric field of which there are two independent possibilities, each normal to the direction of propagation. This chapter investigates the polarization characteristics of synchrotron radiation. One way in which this information is practically useful lies in studying astrophysical objects; for example, the Crab Nebula is inferred to emit synchrotron radiation, because of the unique polarization characteristics of the radiation. The chapter discusses two polarization orientations and polarization vectors for synchrotron radiation. It is sufficient to compute the radiation produced in a single polarization state.
