P.B. Keegstra
Hughes STX
C.L. Bennett
NASA GSFC
G.F. Smoot
UC Berkeley and LBL
K.M. Gorski, G. Hinshaw
Hughes STX
L. Tenorio
UC Berkeley and LBL
When all-sky linear polarization is expressed in terms of Stokes parameters Q and U, as in analyzing polarization results form the Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) on NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), coordinate transformations produce a mixing of Q and U. Consequently it is inappropriate to expand Q and U in ordinary spherical harmonics. The proper expansion expresses both Q and U simultaneously in terms of a particular class of generalized spherical harmonics. Details of this expansion and its application to DMR will be presented.