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Abstract: This paper addresses the image formation, including both real images and virtual images, of the polynomial mirrors when analyzed by using ray optics. The imaging properties of polynomial mirrors, including mirrors with quadratic, cubic, and quartic polynomial shapes, are reviewed and generalized to higher order polynomial mirrors by being approximated as a piecewise set of displaced parabolic mirrors. The conditions in which multiple virtual images can be formed and the parities of the virtual images are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]