Abstract

Using a twisted nematic liquid crystal as an example, this paper discusses the use of the Jones matrix to find the parameters of a light wave propagating in an inhomogeneous anisotropic medium, which is represented for the numerical calculations by a sequence of thin homogeneous layers. The accuracy of the result is analyzed as a function of the parameters of the medium and the number of layers into which it is broken up. A criterion is proposed for finding the optimum number of layers.

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