A polarization audit traces every watt reaching the detector back to a named source in the chain, so no intensity appears without a cited origin. The accounting is exact only for the stated intensities, axis angles, and areas of the ideal polarizer ledger. Real beams add finite bandwidth, imperfect polarizers, alignment error, detector calibration, and measurement uncertainty that blur the bookkeeping.
The capstone audit cites each required role source before accepting. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.
highlighted = computed this step
The final audit cites every role source
Wave, projection, Malus, chain, power, and pressure each appear by role, not copied text.