Study of the frequency autocorrelation of the differential group delay in fibers with polarization mode dispersion

We study the frequency autocorrelation of the differential group delay (DGD) in fibers with polarization mode dispersion (PMD). We show that the correlation bandwidth of the DGD is comparable with that of the orientation of the PMD vector. Furthermore, we show that all the most general statistical properties of polarization mode dispersion in long fibers are uniquely determined by the mean DGD, An estimate of the accuracy of measurements in which the mean DGD is extracted by frequency averaging in a single fiber is obtained as a function of the measured bandwidth. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.