An electromagnetic world without polarization

The majority of natural sources (black-bodies, fluorescent bulbs, etc) generate completely un-polarized light; the majority of detectors (eyes, photo-cameras, photomultipliers, etc) are polarization-insensitive. To reflect this, we attempt to describe approximately electromagnetic waves without polarization. Corresponding scalar equations are non-trivial modifications of standard d’Alembert and Helmholtz equations to the case of spatially inhomogeneous propagation speed v(r) = 1/ √ ε(r)μ(r). A description of Fresnel reflection (FR) and Goos–Hänchen shift for total internal reflection phenomena is given on the basis of these modified equations.