Reflection of electromagnetic waves from isotropic optically active media

The authors investigate the reflection of linearly and circularly polarized electromagnetic waves both at the boundary between an isotropic non-active medium and an isotropic optically active medium and at the boundary between an optically active medium and a non-active medium. The components of the electric field and the intensity of the reflected and refracted waves are determined. The following differential reflection methods for studying the optical activity are proposed: usual reflection of left and right circularly polarized waves (reflection optical activity); total reflection of circularly polarized waves; total reflection of linearly polarized waves.