Quantum Inspired Polarization Decoherence as an Optical Signature of Water Impurities

Quantum Inspired Polarization Decoherence as an Optical Signature of Water Impurities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Quantum Inspired Polarization Decoherence as an Optical Signature of Water Impurities Rajeswari Yogamalar N, Sankar P This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8687931/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Conventional low cost water quality sensing typically relies on electrical conductivity or turbidity measurements, which quantify bulk scattering or ionic content but remain insensitive to subtle optical coherence loss caused by microscopic impurities. Here, we present a quantum inspired polarization decoherence sensing approach using an optical setup integrated with a smart phone light sensor. A linearly polarized 670 nm laser light is transmitted through isotropic water samples (Reverse Osmosis (RO), tap, sea, and canal water), and the transmitted intensity is recorded while rotating the analyzer. Experimentally, all samples exhibit angle independent transmitted intensity, confirming that water is polarization inactive in the classical sense. However, the absolute intensity level decreases systematically from air and RO water to tap, sea, and canal water. A quantum inspired noise framework is employed, modeling water as a depolarizing channel and defining Polarization Decoherence Index (PDI) that quantifies the shrinkage of the effective Bloch vector associated with the polarization state. Unlike Malus law based polarimetry, the proposed method detects coherence loss rather than polarization rotation, enabling impurity discrimination even in isotropic media. The results demonstrate that polarization decoherence provides an optical metric fundamentally distinct from conductivity based Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) measurements. Thisworkestablishes a novel, low cost, alignment tolerant, and quantum inspired optical sensing paradigm suitable for compact integration in RO system and real time water quality monitoring. Scattering Coherence Polarization Decoherence Index Quantum noise Bloch vector shrinkage Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Table1.docx Table3.docx Table2.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8687931","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":581044092,"identity":"bc2206cd-f3aa-4958-9db8-1948877d6160","order_by":0,"name":"Rajeswari Yogamalar N","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rajeswari","middleName":"Yogamalar","lastName":"N","suffix":""},{"id":581044093,"identity":"e6783724-4134-453e-8fcf-1524f8e6ab02","order_by":1,"name":"Sankar 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Here, we present a quantum inspired polarization decoherence sensing approach using an optical setup integrated with a smart phone light sensor. A linearly polarized 670 nm laser light is transmitted through isotropic water samples (Reverse Osmosis (RO), tap, sea, and canal water), and the transmitted intensity is recorded while rotating the analyzer. Experimentally, all samples exhibit angle independent transmitted intensity, confirming that water is polarization inactive in the classical sense. However, the absolute intensity level decreases systematically from air and RO water to tap, sea, and canal water. A quantum inspired noise framework is employed, modeling water as a depolarizing channel and defining Polarization Decoherence Index (PDI) that quantifies the shrinkage of the effective Bloch vector associated with the polarization state. 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