> Where goes the energy of the orthogonal component of the field? Absorbed by the polarizer, reflected, ... ? It depends on the type of polariser. The type us

> Where goes the energy of the orthogonal component of the field? Absorbed by the polarizer, reflected, ... ? It depends on the type of polariser. The type used in LCD displays and 3D cinema glasses absorbs, that's why everything looks darker through them but they don't look like mirrors. A polarising beam splitter reflects one mode and passes the other. It looks like a half-mirror.