Polarization States of Light and Their Quantum Tomography

The notion and main features of polarization states of light are discussed within the framework of classical and quantum optics. This notion is shown to be correctly defined for arbitrary light beams only within quantum optics by using the P-quasispin formalism developed earlier. Polarization states of quantum light are shown to be fully described by a polarization density operator (PDO) obtained via reducing the total field density operator. Theoretical foundations are given for quantum tomography of polarization states of light fields considered as a way of measuring PDO. Herewith, the main attention is paid to a method where proper polarization tomographic observables (PDO “measurers”) are used. The method is shown to be adequately formulated by means of quasi-spectral tomographic expansions of PDO in special operator bases (given by finite sums of partially orthogonal projectors), which determine probability distributions of tomographic observables as expansion coefficients. Matrix versions of such “tomographic” PDO representations are obtained. In particular, projections of these expansions on quasiclassical operator bases, determining polarization quasiprobability functions, are given. An example of experimental implementation of polarization tomography of unpolarized light (biphoton radiation with hidden polarization) is analyzed.