On the Deterministic and Non-deterministic Mueller Matrix

The Mueller matrices of the passive systems are investigated. If a system is deterministic, the corresponding Mueller matrix can be decomposed as a product of two special matrices, one of which preserves the polarization degree of the input light, and the other has its internal structure determined by certain characteristic quantities. We found that the mapping nature of a deterministic system may be described by these characteristic quantities. To study the non-deterministic system, we propose a diagonalization procedure that involves deterministic Mueller matrices. The result of its application to certain experimentally measured Mueller matrices clearly shows that there must be some fundamental restrictions on the validity of the Stokes-Mueller calculus.