Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-optics-and-electrodynamics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/section-a/a1/b/solution
Past exam of the optics and electrodynamics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 Section A A1 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Now take , with the same angle to the incident direction. The perpendicular direction is and the in-plane transverse direction is . The roles of the two electric dipole populations interchange: electric dipoles radiate at full strength, whereas the observed wave amplitude from a electric dipole is reduced by .
Thus and , givingThis is also obtained by the symmetry , in part (a). For , both planes give the familiar Rayleigh scattering degree of polarization : the diffuse signal is unpolarized forward and fully linearly polarized at right angles. At a dark direction with zero denominator, no degree of polarization can be measured.
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