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The Chemical Educator

Polarized Light and Quantum Mechanics

Joseph March Brom, Frank Rioux

Published Jul 26, 2002• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Lecture demonstrations involving polarization of light are presented and discussed from the quantum theoretical point of view. The demonstrations clearly show that only two base states are required to describe the quantum state of a photon and they illustrate an optical analog of the Stern–Gerlach experiment that involved electrons.
DOI
10.1333/s00897020580a

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We report on two quantum polarization experiments. The first one shows that three geometrical rotations can in principle be distinguished with certainty using two photons. The second experiment shows quantum polarization properties of classically unpolarized light. We outline a new treatment of polarization in quantum optics. Our formalism differs from the usual quantum description, which uses the Stokes operators. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
In a world designed specifically to make easy the learning of quantum physics, the simplest example would be states of position of a free particle or of a particle confined in an atom. Photons allow us to develop the essential formal ideas of quantum physics with an absolute minimum of complexity. A satisfactory theory of photons requires quantum electrodynamics , a branch of advanced quantum theory. The simplest photon polarization state to produce and describe is a state of "linear polarization". It is easy enough to determine whether or not the photons in a beam are in a state of linear polarization. For a linearly polarized beam the state can be exactly specified in terms of the orientation of the polarizer transmission axis for maximum transmission. The behavior of photons in a beam is independent of the intensity of the beam; the photons behave—most conveniently—in a manner independent of one another.
Abstract Stern‐Gerlach (SG) effect, initially found for unveiling the existence of quantized electron spins, is now a general concept describing a state‐dependent separation. It is widely explored in optics to achieve a function of optical splitting, but the current schemes always require a polarization‐ or wavelength‐dependent process, thus showing limitations for broader applications. Here, spatial modes of an optical field are employed as another degree of freedom to demonstrate an SG effect. Two modes of a pair of coupled waveguides are found to be in analog to the electron spins. They are able to undergo a splitting upon a spatially‐dependent waveguide coupling, which plays the role of a non‐uniform magnetic field. In an experiment, such a splitting is realized in two coupled non‐parallel slab waveguides, and its strength is adjusted at ease by varying the parameters of this proposed structure. This SG‐related optical splitting may find applications in the field of optical sensing and signal processing.