Distribution function approach to degree of polarization phenomenon description in optical fiber system

The paper presents a new approach to description of the partial polarization in a fiber-optic system. Basing on the investigation of interference phenomenon in a fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer the depolarization process is defined applying statistical point of view. The introduced model is treating depolarization as a some distribution of different states of polarization (SOP). The parameters of such a SOP distribution function are connected with spectral character of a light source, which may give depolarization process different from a linear one in an optical fiber system. Such description of light propagation in an optical fiber can be useful for investigation of the polarization mode dispersion. This paper presents also results of the degree of polarization measurement by application of the introduced approach in the fiber-optic interferometric polarization analyzer. This is the fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer which uses a measurement technique based on the fourth Fresnel-Arago's condition of polarized beams interference.