Electromagnetic Wave Polarization State Evolution In Weakly Anisotropic And Nonuniform Media With Dissipation

The change of the polarization state is analysed of an electromagnetic beam propagating in weakly anisotropic and smoothly inhomogeneous media with dissipation. On the basis of a quasi-isotropic approximation, which provides a consequent asymptotic solution of Maxwell's equation, a differential equation for the evolution of a four-component Stokes vector is derived. The obtained equation generalizes the previous results for nonadsorbing media and is written in terms of a dielectric tensor of birefringent media with dissipation. The formalism is illustrated by an example of magnetised plasma with dissipation due to electron collisions.