Polarization transformation of a wave field propagating in an anisotropic medium

The momentous experimental discovery of the Faraday effect is briefly sketc hed from a historical perspective, through the eyes of several well-known s cientists. This effect and its generalization can be explained theoreticall y by using the dispersion theory for waves propagating in an anisotropic me dium. A wave of arbitrary initial polarization will ha ie its wave polariza tion transformed continuously as it propagates. It is convenient to represe nt this continuous polarization transformation by a locus in the polarizati on-ratio plane. In a lossless medium, when both characteristic waves are pr opagating, this locus is a circle. Five cases in a magneto-ionic medium hav e been investigated for different propagation angles. The results are discu ssed and illustrated.