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fissionary
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Is there any relation between refractive index and polarization?
Have you tried the wikipedia article?shiromani said:Could you tell me what is a birefringent material?
I did read the wikipedia article, but didn't understand why the materials refractive index depends on polarization.Please explain me. Thank you.Vagn said:Have you tried the wikipedia article?
Brewster's angle? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster's_anglefissionary said:Is there any relation between refractive index and polarization?
I am suggesting that there will not necessarily be an angle at which the horizontal vector is ever zero for a birefringent substance. This would be because there are two Brewster angles involved potentially (depending on the actual direction of arrival of the incident ray..nasu said:It may be, sure.
The Brewster angle will have a range of values, depending of the orientation of the normal to the optic axis of the crystal.
Maybe this is what you mean by "Brewster angles are different"? But for each orientation the reflection coefficient for one polarization become zero at the Brewster angle for that orientation. I think that this does not change.
Would it be possible for you to translate that article into a few words - just relating to the question? I tried to stagger through it but failed to pick up the important arm waving bit that I needed i.e. to say whether or not the brewster angle would be different for different arrival azimuths? I think that is implied but can't be sure.Andy Resnick said:The Fresnel equations for isotropic-anisotropic, anisotropic-isotropic, etc. interfaces are given here:
It looks like you have to pay to see that.(?)nasu said:The link posted by Andy does not work for me.
Here is one of the papers I found, related to this problem.
http://iopscience.iop.org/0953-8984/4/47/025/pdf/0953-8984_4_47_025.pdf
You are welcome.Andy Resnick said:Thanks for the other link, nasu. It's kind of bizarre: there's no discussion either in Born and Wolf or the Handbook of Optics (although there's a claim in vol. 4, 2.19 that the equations are present 'elsewhere in this Handbook'), even though there are detailed models of birefringent devices that use reflection: Nicol prisms, etc.
It may be. You tried through your library?sophiecentaur said:It looks like you have to pay to see that.(?)
I don't have a college library. I can read books in my local Uni library but they do not let members of the public get on line resources. This situation is not uncommon for older PF members.nasu said:It may be. You tried through your library?
It seems that I cannot email you. Is this the case?sophiecentaur said:I don't have a college library. I can read books in my local Uni library but they do not let members of the public get on line resources. This situation is not uncommon for older PF members.
That''s right. I stopped doing PMs on forums some while ago. Sorry.nasu said:It seems that I cannot email you. Is this the case?
Polarization refers to the orientation of the electric field of an electromagnetic wave. In simple terms, it describes the direction in which the waves vibrate.
Polarization affects how light interacts with different materials. For example, polarized light can be used to reduce glare, improve contrast, and enhance the clarity of images.
The refractive index is a measure of how much light is bent, or refracted, as it passes through a material. It is a ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in the material.
The refractive index varies depending on the composition and density of the material. Generally, materials with higher densities have higher refractive indices, meaning that light is bent more as it passes through them.
The refractive index can affect polarization by altering the speed and direction of the light as it passes through a material. This can result in changes in the polarization of the light, depending on the angle at which it enters and exits the material.