Dynamic eigenstates of polarization

We propose the concept of a dynamic eigenstate of polarization (DES) to describe the sensitivity of the output polarization of an optical component relative to the change of a key parameter characterizing its birefringent characteristics. The concept is a generalization of the concept of principal states developed for polarization mode dispersion to generalized parameters such as temperature, pressure, voltage, angular adjustment, etc. We discuss the application of the DES concept in some detail for polarization control and polarization sensitivity relative to temperature.