Multiple scattering of a polarized laser beam

The multiple scattering of polarized light is an area of research which is gaining increased interest in the academic community, particularly involving the scattering of polarized laser beams. Few studies exist in the literature involving the spatial variation of the diffuse polarized light field produced by the multiple scattering of a polarized laser beam. Thus the goal of this thesis is to study the spatial variation of the diffuse light field produced by a polarized laser beam impinging on a plane parallel scattering layer.;The first two papers deal with issues involving the measurement of the Stokes vectors. The third paper deals with the Monte Carlo simulation of the multiple scattering of an unpolarized narrow light beam using scalar radiative transport theory. The final two papers deal with the numerical and experimental analysis of the spatial variation of the polarized diffuse light field produced by a circularly polarized laser beam incident on a plane parallel scattering medium. Particular attention is focused on the degree of polarization of the light field. Results of this study suggest that the diffuse light field is polarized at significant optical radii from the incident light beam in spite of the large number of scattering events photons have undergone.