Bliokh KY, Alonso MA, Dennis MR. Geometric phases in 2D and 3D polarized fields: geometrical, dynamical, and topological aspects.
REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2019;
82:122401. [PMID:
31514179 DOI:
10.1088/1361-6633/ab4415]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Geometric phases are a universal concept that underpins numerous phenomena involving multi-component wave fields. These polarization-dependent phases are inherent in interference effects, spin-orbit interaction phenomena, and topological properties of vector wave fields. Geometric phases have been thoroughly studied in two-component fields, such as two-level quantum systems or paraxial optical waves. However, their description for fields with three or more components, such as generic nonparaxial optical fields routinely used in modern nano-optics, constitutes a nontrivial problem. Here we describe geometric, dynamical, and total phases calculated along a closed spatial contour in a multi-component complex field, with particular emphasis on 2D (paraxial) and 3D (nonparaxial) optical fields. We present several equivalent approaches: (i) an algebraic formalism, universal for any multi-component field; (ii) a dynamical approach using the Coriolis coupling between the spin angular momentum and reference-frame rotations; and (iii) a geometric representation, which unifies the Pancharatnam-Berry phase for the 2D polarization on the Poincaré sphere and the Majorana-sphere representation for the 3D polarized fields. Most importantly, we reveal close connections between geometric phases, angular-momentum properties of the field, and topological properties of polarization singularities in 2D and 3D fields, such as C-points and polarization Möbius strips.
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