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

Class representing a polarization state of light. The property Polarization.x holds the polarization vector in cartesian coordinates. The property Polarization.q holds the polarization vector in the helicity basis $(\vec{\sigma}^-, \vec{\pi}, \vec{\sigma}^+)$ for the given quantization axis q_axis.

Parameters:

vecarray_like

The complex-valued polarization vector $\vec{\varepsilon}$ of an electromagnetic wave / photon. The user input is normalized to a vector with length 1. The default value corresponds to linear polarization in $z$-direction, such that Polarization.x = [0, 0, 1] and Polarization.q = [0, 1, 0].

q_axisarray_like

The quantization axis used to transform Polarization.x and Polarization.q into each other. Must be an integer in {0, 1, 2} or a 3d-vector. The default is q_axis = 2 (z-axis).

vec_as_qbool

Whether vec is given in the helicity basis (True) or in cartesian coordinates (False). The default is True.

instanceqspec.simulate.Polarization | ctypes.LP_c_char

An existing Polarization instance. If this is specified, the other parameters are omitted.