Maxwell Optics: II. An Exact Formalism

Abstract

We present a formalism for light optics starting with the Maxwell equations and casting them into an exact matrix form taking into account the spatial and temporal variations of the permittivity and permeability. This $8 \times 8$ matrix representation is used to construct the optical Hamiltonian. This has a close analogy with the algebraic structure of the Dirac equation, enabling the use of the rich machinery of the Dirac electron theory. We get interesting wavelength-dependent contributions which can not be obtained in any of the traditional approaches.