STATISTICS OF THE NORMALIZED STOKES PARAMETERS FOR A GAUSSIAN STOCHASTIC PLANE-WAVE FIELD

The statistics of the normalized Stokes parameters for a stochastic plane wave field that is Gaussian distributed is examined. The resulting probability density functions and lower-order moments generalized those obtained by previous investigators. Results of some numerical calculations are discussed. As an application of this analysis, we consider multiple scattering of Light by a spatially random medium, composed of uncorrelated spherical pointlike particles, where the description of partially polarized light in terms of normalized Stokes parameters may be useful.