Malus’ Law Derived from Deterministic Particle Behavior

A polarized beam of energy is usually interpreted as a set of particles, all having the same polarization state. Difference in behavior between the one and the other particle is then explained by a number of counter-intuitive quantum mechanical concepts like probability distribution, superposition, entanglement and quantized spin. Alternatively, I propose that a polarized beam is composed of a set of particles with a cosine distribution of polarization angles within a polarization area. I show that Malus’ law for the intensity of a beam of polarized light can be derived in a straightforward manner from this distribution. I then show that none of the above-mentioned counter-intuitive concepts are necessary to explain particle behavior and that the ontology of particles, passing through a polarizer, can be easily and intuitively understood. I conclude by formulating some questions for follow-up research.