Polarization mixing
In optics, polarization mixing refers to changes in the relative strengths of the Stokes parameters caused by reflection or scattering—see vector radiative transfer—or by changes in the radial orientation of the detector. == Example: A sloping, specular surface == The definition of the four Stokes components are, in a fixed basis: [ I Q U V ] = [ | E v | 2 + | E h | 2 | E v | 2 − | E h | 2 2 Re ⟨ E v E h ∗ ⟩ 2 Im ⟨ E v E h ∗ ⟩ ] , {\displaystyle \left[{\begin{array}{c}I\\Q\\U\\V\end{array}}\right]=\left[{\begin{array}{c}|E_{v}|^{2}+|E_{h}|^{2}\\|E_{v}|^{2}-|E_{h}|^{2}\\2\operatorname {Re} \left\langle E_{v}E_{h}^{*}\right\rangle \\2\operatorname {Im} \left\langle E_{v}E_{h}^{*}\right\rangle \end{array}}\right],} where Ev and Eh are the electric field components in the vertical and horizontal directions respectively.