ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we discuss methods of measuring (or creating) the Stokes vector, the real fourelement entity that describes the state of polarization of a beam of light. The measurement process can be represented as
I AS= , (16.1)
where I is the vector of flux measurements as made by the detector, A is a matrix whose dimensions depend upon the number of measurements and whose elements depend on the optical system, and S is the incident Stokes vector. Since we want to determine the incident Stokes vector, we must invert Equation 16.1 so that S is given by
S A I= −1 . (16.2)
This system of equations is generated through a set of measurements and can be solved through Fourier or non-Fourier techniques. Both solution methods will be discussed in this chapter. The methods described in this chapter lend themselves to automated procedures.
