Abstract

According to the Matrix Wave Theory (MWT) developed by G. Eichmann, the complex amplitude propagation through an inhomogeneous medium satisfies the matrix wave equation¹: where the complex amplitude or the wave function $\text{a}\left(\overrightarrow{\text{r}}\right)$ is a matrix with two rows and one column $\text{a}(\overrightarrow{\text{r}})=\left(\begin{array}{l}{\text{a}}_1(\overrightarrow{\text{r}})\hfill \\ {\text{a}}_2(\overrightarrow{\text{r}})\hfill \end{array}\right)$ and τ_i. are the Pauli spin matrices: being $\text{n}\left(\overrightarrow{\text{r}}\right)$ the inhomogeneous index of refraction and $\text{k}=\frac{2\pi }{\lambda }$ the wavenumber in vacuum.

© 1984 Optical Society of America