Polarization aberrations of lenses

Polarization aberrations are variations of intensity and polarization of an optical beam in the exit pupil of an optical system, and the dependence of these variations on the position of the object in the field. A set of functions has been derived to describe the low-order polarization aberrations of a symmetric optical system. A method is given for calculating polarization aberration coefficients for a refracting system from a paraxial raytrace. A model of these aberrations as weak polarizers that vary across the pupil will be discussed.