title: Noise distribution of Mueller matrices retrieved with active rotating polarimeters.
abstract: Two methods used to retrieve Mueller matrices from intensity measurements are revisited. It is shown that with symmetry or orthogonality considerations, numerical inversions of polarimetric equations can be avoided. With the obtained analytical formulas, noise propagation can be analyzed. If the intensity noise is a Gaussian white noise, the noise of Mueller matrices features remarkable properties. Mueller components are mutually correlated according to a scheme that involves decomposition into four blocks of 2x2 matrices. Variances are unequally distributed: the middle 2x2 block has the highest variance, the element on the bottom right has the lowest. These characteristics have been validated on experimental Mueller images of the free space.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Image, de l'Informatique et de la Télédétecion, Louis Pasteur University, Illkirch, France. yt@mephot.u-strasbg.fr
authors.forename: Yoshitate
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takakura
authors.forename: Jawad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Elsayed Ahmad