qspec.simulate.Polarization  (  vec = None ,  q_axis = 2 ,  vec_as_q = True ,  instance = None  )[source]

Class representing a polarization state of light. The property 'x' holds the polarization in cartesian coordinates. The property 'q' holds the polarization in spherical coordinates ( sigma-, pi, sigma+ ) with respect to the chosen quantization axis.

Parameters:

vecndarray | Iterable

The polarization vector. I.e. the amplitude of the electromagnetic wave. So to specify, e.g., 1/3 of pi and 2/3 sigma+ light for a given 'q_axis', vec must be ( 0, sqrt(1/3), sqrt(2/3) ). The default is linear polarization in z-direction, such that x = (0, 0, 1) and q = (0, 1, 0).

q_axisarray_like

The quantization axis. Must be an integer in {0, 1, 2} or a 3d-vector. The default is 2 (z-axis).

vec_as_qbool

Whether 'vec' is given as ( sigma-, pi, sigma+ ) (True) or in cartesian coordinates (False).

instanceNone

A pointer to an existing Polarization instance. If this is specified, the other parameters are omitted.