Fig. 1: Field vectors (E, D, B, H) and propagation directions (ray and wave-normal) for linearly-polarized plane electromagnetic waves in a non-magnetic birefringent crystal.1 The plane of vibration, containing both electric vectors (E & D) and both propagation vectors, is sometimes called the “plane of polarization” by modern authors. Fresnel’s “plane of polarization”, traditionally used in optics, is the plane containing the magnetic vectors (B & H) and the wave-normal. Malus’s original “plane of polarization” was the plane containing the magnetic vectors and the ray. (In an isotropic medium, θ = 0 and Malus’s plane merges with Fresnel’s.)
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Footnotes
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J.G. Lunney and D. Weaire, “The ins and outs of conical refraction”, Europhysics News, vol. 37, no. 3 (May–June 2006), pp. 26–9, doi.org/10.1051/epn:2006305, at pp. 26–7. ↩