Fermionic out-of-plane structure of polarization singularities

Abstract

A new classification of circular polarization C points in three-dimensional polarization ellipse fields is proposed. The classification type depends on the out-of-plane variation of the polarization ellipse axis, in particular, whether the ellipse axes are in the plane of circular polarization one or three times. A minimal set of parameters for this classification are derived, and discussed in the context of the familiar in-plane C point classification into lemon, star, and monstar types. This new geometric classification is related to the M\"obius index of polarization singularities recently introduced by Freund.