# Statistics of narrow-band partially polarized light

## TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive statistical description of narrow-band partially polarized light using the 2-D PA-PDF, providing more detailed information than traditional methods and applicable via coherent detection.

## Contribution

It introduces the PA-PDF as a new statistical tool that captures more information about partially polarized light than the Stokes vector.

## Key findings

- PA-PDF depends on 13 parameters for Gaussian fields
- PA-PDF offers more detailed polarization information
- Method applicable with heterodyne detection

## Abstract

A complete single-point statistical description of a narrow-band partially polarized optical field is developed in terms of the 2-D Period-Averaged Probability Density Function (PA-PDF) of the electrical field vector. This statistic can be measured using the coherent (heterodyne) detection. PA-PDF carries more information about the partially-polarized light than the traditional Stokes vector. For a simple Gaussian partially polarized field the PA-PDF depends on 13 real parameters in contrast to the four parameters of the Stokes vector or coherence tensor

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1702.00002