Studies in Coherence and Physical Optics
In her thesis physicist Jia Xu explor es how light waves are related (coherence) and how their electric fie lds are oriented (polarization).
“Both affect how light passe s through optical systems. Standard Jones and Mueller matrix methods cannot fully describe light with partial coherence and polarization, so I developed a broader matrix method. I also studied brightness flu ctuations when light is focused, polarization control in ultrashort p ulses, and atmospheric effects on a free-space optical White Rabbit l ink for precise clock synchronization.”
“The new method extends Malus’ law to partially polarized li ght and shows that non-uniform polarizers can create points where wav e correlations vanish. Calculations show that focusing can greatly in crease random brightness fluctuations.
"I also show theor etically how an interferometer with a dispersive material can control polarization within ultrashort pulses. Experiments found that atmosp heric turbulence, beam coherence and receiver properties together aff ect the stability and reliability of the White Rabbit synchronization link.”
More information on the thesis.
DESCRIPTION: Studies in Coherence and Physical Optics In her thesis ph ysicist Jia Xu explores how light waves are related (coherence) and h ow their electric fields are oriented (polarization).“Both affect h ow light passes through optical systems. Standard Jones and Mueller m atrix methods cannot fully describe light with partial coherence and polarization, so I developed a broader matrix method. I also studied brightness fluctuations when light is focused, polarization control i n ultrashort pulses, and atmospheric effects on a free-space optical White Rabbit link for precise clock synchronization.”