[RightWhale]

"If the light hadn't been polarized, that would mean that we would have to throw out our whole model of how we understand the physics of the early universe,"

Here's something for some physicist somewhere. What is polarization? I don't mean it's something detected by transparent crystal arrays or created by reflection off specular surfaces. I mean, what is it that lines up in a preferred direction? You can throw in photons to your explanation, even though the jury is still out on Einstein's mind baby.

[PatrickHenry]

I mean, what is it that lines up in a preferred direction? You can throw in photons to your explanation, even though the jury is still out on Einstein's mind baby.

I'm not at all up to speed on the issue involved here. I'm hoping someone will show up and give us some more info. It would appear that big bang theory has just passed an important test, but I was unaware that the problem existed. I guess I've led a sheltered life.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Caveat: Physicist is invited to correct me here. Light has both particlelike and wavelike characteristics. It acts like a transverse wave (like water waves) where the oscillation of the waves is perpendicular to the line of travel. In polarized light, the angles of the oscilations are lined up in time. That is, each successive photon in a photon train not only oscillates perpendicularly to the line of travel, each one has the same polar angle as the others.

Polarization Link

Polarization Link

If one looks down the line of travel of a light beam, the sideways oscillations of the photons is aligned in polarized light.

[Faraday]

FYI: Photons consist of orthagonal electric and magnetic field vectors oscillating at a particular frequency. A random photon generator, e.g. an incandescent light, will put out photons with their electric vectors going "every-which-way". LASERs will put out coherent polarized photons. Photons can be linearly polarized or circularly polarized. In the latter case, the photon's electric vector traces out a right or left handed helix as it moves through space. How this ties into the microwave background radiation, I don't have the foggiest.

[headsonpikes]

"What is polarization?"

Isn't it etheric harmonic synchronicity?