Exact and linearized refractive index stress-dependence in anisotropic photoelastic crystals.

For the permittivity tensor of photoelastic anisotropic crystals, we obtain the exact nonlinear dependence on the Cauchy stress tensor. We obtain the same result for its square root, whose principal components, the crystal principal refractive index, are the starting point for any photoelastic analysis of transparent crystals. From these exact results we then obtain, in a totally general manner, the linearized expressions to within higher-order terms in the stress tensor for both the permittivity tensor and its square root. We finish by showing some relevant examples of both nonlinear and linearized relations for optically isotropic, uniaxial and biaxial crystals.