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Laser Physics

Stokes parameters and Stokes operators

A.S. Shumovsky, Özgür Esat Müstecaplıoğlu, Mithat Ünsal

Published Jan 1, 2000• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

It is shown that the description of polarization based on quantization of classical Stokes parameters is incomplete in quantum domain. For example, the polarization of the electric dipole radiation of the atomic or molecular transitions is described by nine generators of the SU(3) subalgebra in the Weyl-Heisenberg algebra of photons, in other words, by nine independent Stokes operators instead of four dependent classical Stokes parameters. Although some of the Stokes operators have one and the same averages, they describe absolutely different physical quantities with strongly different quantum fluctuations. The quantum polarization properties of the electric dipole and quadrupole radiation are examined as a function of distance for the near, intermediate, and far zones. Application of results in the near-field optics and quantum entanglement research is discussed.

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It is shown that the description of polarization based on quantization of classical Stokes parameters is incomplete in quantum domain. For example, the polarization of the electric dipole radiation of the atomic or molecular transitions is described by nine generators of the SU(3) subalgebra in the Weyl-Heisenberg algebra of photons, in other words, by nine independent Stokes operators instead of four dependent classical Stokes parameters. Although some of the Stokes operators have one and the same averages, they describe absolutely different physical quantities with strongly different quantum fluctuations. The quantum polarization properties of the electric dipole and quadrupole radiation are examined as a function of distance for the near, intermediate, and far zones. Application of results in the near-field optics and quantum entanglement research is discussed.
The quantum polarization and phase properties of an electric dipole radiation are examined. It is shown that, unlike the classical picture, the quantum description of polarization needs nine independent Stokes operators, forming a representation of SU (3) sub-algebra in the Weyl-Heisenberg algebra of photons. A corresponding Cartan algebra determines the cosine and sine of the radiation phase operators. A new representation of dipole photons is proposed. The generators of the Cartan algebra are diagonal in this representation so that the corresponding number states describe the number of photons with given radiation phase. The eigenstates of the radiation phase are determined. They have a discrete spectrum and natural behaviour in the classical limit. The relation between the radiation phase, operational phases and the Pegg-Barnett approach is discussed.
Stokes parameters are a standard tool in quantum optics. They involve averaged intensities at exits of polarizers. If the overall measured intensity fluctuates, as, e.g., for states with undefined photon numbers, the instances of its increased value contribute more to the parameters. One can introduce normalized quantum Stokes operators. Operationally, for a given single run of the experiment, their values are differences of measured intensities (or photon numbers) at the two exits of a polarizer divided by their sum. Effects of intensity fluctuations are removed. Switching to normalized Stokes operators results in more sensitive entanglement conditions. We also show a general method of deriving an entanglement indicator for optical fields which use polarization correlations, which starts with any two-qubit entanglement witness. This allows one to vastly expand the family of such indicators.
Abstract We present a new approach to Stokes parameters, which enables one to see better non-classical properties of bright quantum light, and of undefined overall photon numbers. The crucial difference is as follows. The standard quantum optical Stokes parameters are averages of differences of intensities of light registered at the two exits of polarization analyzers, and one gets their normalized version by dividing them by the average total intensity. The new ones are averages of the registered normalized Stokes parameters, for the duration of the experiment. That is, we redefine each Stokes observable as the difference of photon number operators at the two exits of a polarizing beam splitter multiplied by the inverse of their sum. The vacuum eigenvalue of the operator is defined a zero. We show that with such an approach one can obtain more sensitive entanglement indicators based on polarization measurements.
We comprehensively review the quantum theory of the polarization properties of light. In classical optics, these traits are characterized by the Stokes parameters, which can be geometrically interpreted using the Poincaré sphere. Remarkably, these Stokes parameters can also be applied to the quantum world, but then important differences emerge: now, because fluctuations in the number of photons are unavoidable, one is forced to work in the three-dimensional Poincaré space that can be regarded as a set of nested spheres. Additionally, higher-order moments of the Stokes variables might play a substantial role for quantum states, which is not the case for most classical Gaussian states. This brings about important differences between these two worlds that we review in detail. In particular, the classical degree of polarization produces unsatisfactory results in the quantum domain. We compare alternative quantum degrees and put forth that they order various states differently. Finally, intrinsically nonclassical states are explored, and their potential applications in quantum technologies are discussed.
We study the polarization properties of three-dimensional quantum light fields by using the Stokes operators. We modify the standard definition of degree of polarization in order to encompass polarization properties in the quantum domain. We show that the states with the largest degree of polarization and least polarization fluctuations are the SU(3) coherent states. We show that the standard quadrature coherent states are Poissonian superpositions of SU(3) coherent states. We examine the polarization properties of some other relevant field states.