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Office Hours
Office hours are posted on the website.
Molly: Tuesdays 2-4pm Dr. Keister: Wednesdays 10am-12 Prof. Goldman: Wednesdays 2-3:30pm

All office hours are in the help room downstairs If none of these work and you need extra help before the exam, please email one of us as far in advance as you can

Scattering and Polarization

Adding vectors Polarization by reflection Polarization by scattering 3D movies Polarizers and analyzers

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Adding Vectors
Y Q y-component X x-component

We can decompose any polarization direction into an xcomponent and a y-component

But we dont have to use x and y. We can use any axes that are perpendicular to one another

Adding Vectors
Y Q q-component y-component X x-component p-component P

Now a polarization that was just x in the first set of axes has two components, p and q

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Concept Question
Which polarization has the largest x-component?

A
y

B
y

C
y

Electromagnetic Waves
The polarization is defined as the direction of oscillation of the electric field

Polarized along the z-axis

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Polarizing Filters

Polarization by Reflection
Review reflection and refraction:

Incident ray

AIR
GLASS

Reflected ray

Transmitted (refracted) ray

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Brewsters Angle
Consider the special case where the transmitted and reflected rays are at right angles to one another

Incident ray

AIR GLASS

Reflected ray

Transmitted (refracted) ray

Brewsters Angle
We can decompose the incident light into two parts: polarized in the plane of the figure, and perpendicular to the figure. We will consider the part in the plane of the figure
Incident ray Electric field oscillation Reflected ray

AIR
GLASS Transmitted (refracted) ray

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Brewsters Angle
The oscillating charges in the glass are what produce the reflected ray. However, they cannot radiate along their direction of travel. Thus there CANNOT be a reflected ray in this special situation.
Incident ray Electric field oscillation Reflected ray AIR GLASS Transmitted (refracted) ray

Brewsters Angle
This special angle of incidence is called Brewsters Angle For light incident at this angle, there is not reflected ray polarized in the plane of the figure.

Thus the reflected light is polarized perpendicular to the plane of the figure

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Brewster Windows
This effect is also used when you have polarized light and you dont want any of it to be reflected Laser light is typically polarized, so this can be used inside a laser to make sure we arent losing energy to surface reflections

Brewster window

Polarizing Sunglasses and Glare

Sunglasses lenses with a polarizer in them can eliminate specular surface reflections

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Polarizing Sunglasses and Glare

The light coming from everywhere else in the scene will be unpolarized Half of it will be transmitted by the glasses

Concept Question
Which polarization should sunglasses reject to eliminate glare from water puddles and other shiny surfaces? Assume the surface is horizontal, as shown in the diagram. A. Sideways B. Up and down
The reflections from the horizontal puddle will be polarized horizontally. So to eliminate glare from this surface, we want to reject the horizontal polarization, thus rejecting the surface reflections

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Polarizing Lenses: Example

Without Polarizing lenses

With Polarizing lenses

Polarizing Camera Filters

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Polarization by Scattering
Consider the following analogy: If we wiggle the rope up and down, a wave is generated in the cross rope If we wiggle the rope sideways, there is no wave generated in the cross rope

Polarization by Scattering
If we wiggle the rope at an angle, the resulting wave in the cross rope will only be Up and down component up and down
Y

Incident wave

Creates new wave in rope X Sideways component Does nothing

The resulting wave will be linearly polarized, even though the incident wave was not

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Polarization by Scattering
Light from the sun is unpolarized. It hits particles in the atmosphere, causing them to oscillate The oscillating particles then radiate light
X

Z Y

Polarization by Scattering
There will be no oscillation in the z direction The wave traveling in the y-direction will thus be polarized in the x-direction
X

Z Y

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Concept Question
Along which axis will the wave traveling in the xdirection by polarized? (views E3 and E4, circled) A. X B. Y C. Z

Polarization by Scattering
Recall the we see the blue in the sky because of light scattered by the atmosphere The light coming from points in the sky 90from the sun will be linearly polarized
When the sun is overhead, the sky near the horizon will be most polarized

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Polarization by Scattering
When the sun is at the horizon, the point of maximum polarization will be straight up in the sky. The part of the sky directly opposite the sun will be unpolarized, as will areas of the sky very near the sun Other areas of the sky will be partially polarized

Camera Filters and the Sky

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3D Movie Projection and Viewing

3D movies are actually stereograms, which create the illusion of depth by showing your eyes slightly different images This was originally done using glasses with red and cyan lenses and pictures that looked like this:

3D Movie Projection and Viewing

Modern 3D movies are projected using different polarizations instead of different colors. Without glasses, the images look like this:

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3D Movie Projection and Viewing

The two overlapping images are actually projected through a polarizing filter, alternating in rapid succession The glasses separate the polarized light and each eye sees something different, creating the illusion of depth The system actually uses circularly polarized light, so the glasses wont work like your polarized sunglasses

Polarizers and Analyzers

Polarizing filters can also be used to detect the presence of polarized light When used in this way, it is called an analyzer How is this useful?

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Polarizers and Analyzers

By changing the relative orientation of the two polarizing filters, the intensity of the light that makes it all the way through can be adjusted

Polarizers and Analyzers

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Polarizers and Analyzers

This is useful for adjusting the intensity of light without changing the parameters of the beam An aperture reduces the size of the beam Dimming a light bulb often changes the color temperature Filters are impossible to adjust continuously This is very common way to control laser beam intensity

Next Time
We will do a review, I still havent figured out the exact format I will put together a study guide for the material covered since the last exam I will send out emails with this information, so dont delete them!

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