Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-optics-and-electrodynamics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-1/3/b/solution
Past exam of the optics and electrodynamics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 Paper 1 3 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
With A nearest the observer, the outward order is P then Q. The initially unpolarized light becomes x linear, then circular, before reaching the mirror. Reflection reverses its helicity. Its return through Q gives y linear, which is blocked by P:Hence the ideal reflected filter is dark and the target cannot be seen through it. This is a double-pass polarization rejection effect, not unequal one-pass transmission from its two sides. Real mirrors at oblique incidence, imperfect retardance, finite bandwidth and depolarization can leave leakage.
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