PMD Fundamentals: Polarization Mode Dispersion in Optical Fibers
25 April 2000
This paper reviews the theory of polarization mode dispersion in optical fibers. It includes discussions of the relationships between Jones and Stokes vectors, rotation matrices, interpretations of PMD vectors, the related laws of infinitesimal rotation and the concatenation rules for PMD vectors of different fiber sections. Pauli spin matrices and spin vectors are used as unifying tools to link a broad range of PMD concepts.