Mesoscopic correlation with polarization rotation of electromagnetic waves -: art. no. 173901

Mesoscopic correlations are observed in the polarization of microwave radiation transmitted through a random waveguide. These measurements, supported by diagrammatic theory, permit an unambiguous decomposition of the intensity correlation function of a vector wave into short, long, and infinite range components. Infinite range correlation that leads to universal conductance fluctuations is measured and found to be in agreement with calculations. The long and infinite range components include nonuniversal frequency-independent terms associated with coupling into and out of the sample.