  We present the results of a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code that
calculates the polarization produced by multiple Thomson scattering and
variable absorptive opacity in a circumstellar disk around one component of a
close detached binary system. We consider in detail the polarization variations
over the binary cycle that result from the disk's illumination by the external
star and by its own volume emission. We identify key features of these
polarization phase curves and investigate their behavior as functions of
optical depth, albedo, and inclination for geometrically thin and thick disks.
The polarization due to disk self-illumination is sensitive to the internal
optical characteristics of the disk, while the polarization arising from
external illumination is mainly sensitive to the disk's geometrical thickness.
With appropriate flux weighting, these results, combined with those for an
internally illuminated disk, allow simulation of the polarization signature
from an arbitrary binary-disk system.
