Method of interpreting Mueller matrix of anisotropic medium

The differential Mueller matrix is an important concept for analyzing the polarization properties of an optically homogeneous anisotropic sample. both nondepolarizing and depolarizing. In this work, we present a new method of interpreting Mueller matrix of anisotropic medium based on the relationships that exist between the components of a differential Mueller matrix and the polar components of the corresponding macroscopic Mueller matrix, and the necessary conditions are determined that guarantee the physical realizability of the generating matrices. Finally, a group of the experimental data of a sample from the literature with some known polarization properties was used to demonstrate the analysis. The work is helpful for obtaining new insights or new interpretations of the measured Mueller matrix of the medium. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement