Universal Synthesizer of Mueller Matrices Based on the Symmetry Properties of the Enpolarizing Ellipsoid

Abstract

Polarimetry is today a widely used and powerful tool for nondestructive analysis of the structural and morphological properties of a great variety of material samples, including aerosols and hydrosols, among many others. For each given scattering measurement configuration, absolute Mueller polarimeters provide the most complete polarimetric information, intricately encoded in the 16 parameters of the corresponding Mueller matrix. Thus, the determination of the mathematical structure of the polarimetric information contained in a Mueller matrix constitutes a topic of great interest. In this work, besides a structural decomposition that makes explicit the role played by the diattenuation-polarizance of a general depolarizing medium, a universal synthesizer of Muller matrices is developed. This is based on the concept of an enpolarizing ellipsoid, whose symmetry features are directly linked to the way in which the polarimetric information is organized.