Plane of polarization

Comment: See User_talk:Gavin_R_Putland#Draft:Plane_of_polarization jcc (tea and biscuits) 18:20, 28 October 2017 (UTC)

Comment: Looking at this, we would need all relevant sourcing and that's what would help improve the chances. SwisterTwister talk 04:32, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

The term plane of polarization refers to the direction of polarization of linearly-polarized light or other electromagnetic radiation. Unfortunately the term is used with two contradictory meanings. As originally defined by Étienne-Louis Malus in 1811, the plane of polarization happened to coincide with the plane containing the direction of propagation and the magnetic vector; but this was not known at the time. In modern literature, the term plane of polarization, if it is used at all, more often refers to the plane containing the direction of propagation and the electric vector, because the electric field has the greater propensity to interact with matter. That propensity, together with Malus's definition and Fresnel's speculations on the luminiferous aether, led early investigators to define the "plane of vibration" as perpendicular to the plane of polarization and containing the direction of propagation.

This history must be taken into account when interpreting the term plane of polarization in existing literature. Sometimes the meaning can only be inferred from the context. In original writing, confusion can be avoided by specifying the orientation of a particular vector.

References

^ W.S. Aldis, A Chapter on Fresnel's Theory of Double Refraction, 2nd Ed., Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co., 1879.
^ Concerning the limitations of elastic-electromagnetic analogies, see (e.g.) O. Darrigol, A History of Optics: From Greek Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century, Oxford, 2012, pp. 227–32.
^ J.Z. Buchwald, The Rise of the Wave Theory of Light: Optical Theory and Experiment in the Early Nineteenth Century, University of Chicago Press, 1989.
^ J.M. Carcione and F. Cavallini, "On the acoustic-electromagnetic analogy", Wave Motion, Vol. 21 (1995), pp. 149–62. (Note that the authors' analogy is only two-dimensional.)
^ R.P. Feynman, R.B. Leighton, and M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, California Institute of Technology, 1963–2013, Volume I, Lecture 33.
^ E. Frankel, "Corpuscular optics and the wave theory of light: The science and politics of a revolution in physics", Social Studies of Science, Vol. 6, No. 2 (May 1976), pp. 141–84.
^ C. Huygens, Traité de la Lumière (Leiden: Van der Aa, 1690), translated by S.P. Thompson as Treatise on Light, University of Chicago Press, 1912.
^ Cf. F.A. Jenkins and H.E. White, Fundamentals of Optics, 4th Ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976, Fig. 26I (p. 554).
^ J.G. Lunney and D. Weaire, "The ins and outs of conical refraction", Europhysics News, Vol. 37, No. 3 (May–June 2006), pp. 26–9; doi.org/10.1051/epn:2006305.
^ M. Luntz (?) et al., "Double refraction", Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 15 September 2017.
^ Merriam-Webster, Inc., "Plane of polarization", accessed 15 September 2017.
^ B. Powell, "On the demonstration of Fresnel's formulas for reflected and refracted light; and their applications", Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Series 4, Vol. 12, No. 76 (July 1856), pp. 1–20.
^ G.G. Stokes, "On the dynamical theory of diffraction" (read 26 November 1849), Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Vol. 9, Part 1 (1851), pp. 1–62.

Category:Light Category:Optics Category:Physical optics Category:Polarization (waves) Category:Electromagnetic radiation Category:Antennas (radio) Category:History of physics

plane of polarization

[aldis-1879-1] W.S. Aldis, A Chapter on Fresnel's Theory of Double Refraction, 2nd Ed., Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co., 1879.

[analogies-2] Concerning the limitations of elastic-electromagnetic analogies, see (e.g.) O. Darrigol, A History of Optics: From Greek Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century, Oxford, 2012, pp. 227–32.

[buchwald-1989-3] J.Z. Buchwald, The Rise of the Wave Theory of Light: Optical Theory and Experiment in the Early Nineteenth Century, University of Chicago Press, 1989.

[carcione-cavallini-1995-4] J.M. Carcione and F. Cavallini, "On the acoustic-electromagnetic analogy", Wave Motion, Vol. 21 (1995), pp. 149–62. (Note that the authors' analogy is only two-dimensional.)

[feynman-1963-5] R.P. Feynman, R.B. Leighton, and M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, California Institute of Technology, 1963–2013, Volume I, Lecture 33.

[frankel-1976-6] E. Frankel, "Corpuscular optics and the wave theory of light: The science and politics of a revolution in physics", Social Studies of Science, Vol. 6, No. 2 (May 1976), pp. 141–84.

[huygens-1690-7] C. Huygens, Traité de la Lumière (Leiden: Van der Aa, 1690), translated by S.P. Thompson as Treatise on Light, University of Chicago Press, 1912.

[jenkins-white-1976-8] Cf. F.A. Jenkins and H.E. White, Fundamentals of Optics, 4th Ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976, Fig. 26I (p. 554).

[lunney-weaire-2006-9] J.G. Lunney and D. Weaire, "The ins and outs of conical refraction", Europhysics News, Vol. 37, No. 3 (May–June 2006), pp. 26–9; doi.org/10.1051/epn:2006305.

[luntz-10] M. Luntz (?) et al., "Double refraction", Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 15 September 2017.

[merriamW-11] Merriam-Webster, Inc., "Plane of polarization", accessed 15 September 2017.

[powell-1856-12] B. Powell, "On the demonstration of Fresnel's formulas for reflected and refracted light; and their applications", Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Series 4, Vol. 12, No. 76 (July 1856), pp. 1–20.

[stokes-1849-13] G.G. Stokes, "On the dynamical theory of diffraction" (read 26 November 1849), Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Vol. 9, Part 1 (1851), pp. 1–62.