Abstract

It is shown that the manifold of Poincaré vectors of partially polarized light and of dichroic devices forms a gyrovector space entirely similar to that of the relativistically allowed velocities. By applying the general composition law of gyrovectors to the Poincaré vectors, the equation of the degree of polarization ellipsoid induced by the action of a partial polarizer on partially polarized incident light is established. Various aspects of parallelism with the special theory of relativity are emphasized.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

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