R Martínez-Herrero et al 2004 J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 6 S64 doi:10.1088/1464-4258/6/3/011
R Martínez-Herrero1, P M Mejías1, S Bosch2 and A Carnicer2
Show affiliationsThe concept of the so-called closest field to a given vector function is extended to the non-polarized case. Attention is focused on transverse field solutions of the Maxwell equations whose transverse character is preserved under free propagation. The coherence matrix of the non-paraxial transverse field that is closest to a paraxial unpolarized transverse beam is given. It is shown that the intensity matrix of this closest field can be written as the sum of the intensity matrices of a non-polarized field and a totally polarized beam.
Issue 3 (March 2004)
Received 12 September 2003, accepted for publication 19 December 2003
Published 24 February 2004
R Martínez-Herrero et al 2004 J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 6 S64
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