2000/03/13 by D. Han, Y. S. Kim, Marilyn E. Noz
Engineering · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Optical Polarization and Ellipsometry #Optical and Acousto-Optic Technologies #Photorefractive and Nonlinear Optics #hep-th #math-ph #math.MP #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.61.5907
published as Phys.Rev. E61 (2000) 5907-5913 · RevTex 14 pages, no figures
arxiv created 2000/03/13 · openalex publication_date 2000/05/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
It is shown that the Lorentz group is the natural language for two-beam interferometers if there are no decoherence effects. This aspect of the interferometer can be translated into six-parameter representations of the Lorentz group, as in the case of polarization optics where there are two orthogonal components of one light beam. It is shown that there are groups of transformations which leave the coherency or density matrix invariant, and this symmetry property is formulated within the framework of Wigner's little groups. An additional mathematical apparatus is needed for the transition from a pure state to an impure state. Decoherence matrices are constructed for this process, and their properties are studied in detail. Experimental tests of this symmetry property are possible.