Lorentz Group in Ray Optics

S. Baskal, E. Georgieva, Y. S. Kim, M. E. Noz

Published 2004-01-18Version 1

It has been almost one hundred years since Einstein formulated his special theory of relativity in 1905. He showed that the basic space-time symmetry is dictated by the Lorentz group. It is shown that this group of Lorentz transformations is not only applicable to special relativity, but also constitutes the scientific language for optical sciences. It is noted that coherent and squeezed states of light are representations of the Lorentz group. The Lorentz group is also the basic underlying language for classical ray optics, including polarization optics, interferometers, the Poincare\'e sphere, one-lens optics, multi-lens optics, laser cavities, as well multilayer optics.