Polarization characterizes the oscillations in time the electromagnetic field is doing in the plane perpendicular to the propagation direction of a wave
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104 views
Polarization Measurement
Assume having a laser beam which is horizontal linear polarized. As one measure the sqrt(intensity) transmitted through a rotatable linear polarizer its pattern corresponds to a cosine. Plotting this ...
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1answer
67 views
How do particles become entangled?
A person asked me this and I'm just a lowly physical chemist.
I used a classical analogy (how good or bad is this and how to fix?)
Basically, light has a net angular momentum of zero, insofar as ...
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1answer
90 views
Magnetic Fields
If running a current through a magnet can reverse the magnetic field, then how strong does the current have to be and how would it best be run through the magnet.
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1answer
53 views
Reflection of a polarised beam
The past days I've been trying to understand how AutoFocus(AF) works on photographic cameras. There is a statement that says AF systems are polarisation sensitive. This means that they can only work ...
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1answer
118 views
Coherency matrix of partially polarized light doesn't contain all information on polarization state?
The electric field of quasi-monochromatic, partially polarized light can be expressed by the following random process (Goodman, Statistical optics)
...
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1answer
64 views
double slit experiment with two opposite quarter waveplates
Consider the usual double slit experiment involving laser and a double slit and a screen. Now place in front of the left slit a quarter waveplate (let's call it QWP1) that changes a certain linear ...
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1answer
42 views
Charge in a layered ball
A ball (radius $R$) has three layers. For $0<r<a$ it is a conductor with free charge $+Q$. For $a<r<b$ it is a linear dielectric $\epsilon$ with free charge embedded in it with density ...
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1answer
182 views
Interaction of polarized beam to optical active substance
Kostyas question for angular momentum and half wave plates
Half wave plate and angular momentum
made me think a little bit. It took me some seconds to "swallow" the answer. :=)
Then I started to ...
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2answers
44 views
Polarization of Light
How do materials polarize light? I know that they polarize light in the same plane, but light has two perpendicular directions with the two fiels, so which direction is reflected and why?
And if ...
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1answer
40 views
Relationship between photon polarization and photon angular momentum
What direction is the angular momentum of right hand polarized light points to? Is it vertical to its propagating direction? I want to recognize this in quantum theory.
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2answers
118 views
Doubts concerning Wigner's classification
Wigner classified particles in function of the eigenvalues of $P_\mu P^\mu$ and $W_\mu W^\mu$. Then, it can be proved that for massless particles spin values can be only $\pm s_{max}$. But for a ...
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0answers
193 views
What is the difference between the properties of Electron spin and Photon polarization/helicity?
What is the difference between a photon's polarization/helicity and an electrons spin half? I know that the photon is spin 1 but isn't its polarization analogous to spin half?
This question stems ...
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0answers
80 views
The electric field inside a uniformly polarized cylinder
Given a uniformly polarized cylinder with some polarization $P\vec{z}$ which has radius $R \gg d$ where $d$ is the height and $R$ is the radius. The cylinder's center is on $\vec{z}$ and it's on the ...
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3answers
79 views
Polarization of sound
The sound can't be polarized beacuse the vibration of such type can't be polarized beacuse the vibration of such type can't be limited or controlled by any barriers and so polarization is not possible ...
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1answer
54 views
Why electric field outside the sphere that carries polarization is 0?
There is a sphere with radius $R$ that carries a polarization
$$\vec P(\vec{r})=k\vec r$$
$\vec r$ is the vector from the center.
I found electric field the outside generated by the sphere is $\vec ...
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1answer
47 views
How can a Jones vector give linear polarization along an axis?
If we represent a Jones vector by two complex-valued exponentials, $J_1 = e^{i \phi_1}$ and $J_2 = e^{i \phi_2}$, how can this ever give a polarization along the x-axis? We write such a polarization ...
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1answer
85 views
Three polarizers, 45° apart
If light is passed through two polarizing filters before arriving at a target, and both of the filters are oriented at 90° to each other, then no light will be received at the target. If a third ...
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0answers
46 views
coordinate change differential equation polar
I noticed that v [in step (2.5)] is not the same as the terms from the first formula, even if they are related..
I tried to understand how did he reach to this ...
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0answers
35 views
How does a photon leave trace of its polarization state in a photon detector but not trace of which direction it came in?
Some quantum erasure experiments involve polarization of photons. In one such experiment with a double slit, a horizontal polarizer is used in front of one slit, and a vertical polarizer is used for ...
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1answer
149 views
Filter out polarized light
Unpolarized light enters the polarizer and gets polarized at one certain angle. If we place an analyzer behind the polarizer and align them, we observe that all light is transmitted. If we rotate the ...
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1answer
106 views
If light is linearly polarized, does it have some spatial extent?
If light (a photon) is linearly polarized, say vertically, does it have some vertical spatial extent (perhaps in amplitude)?
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654 views
Will freely rotatable polarizers align?
Will two freely rotatable linear polarizers (placed in sequence and at some angular offset less than, say, 45 degrees) eventually align if you shine (plenty of) unpolarized light at the first one?
If ...
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1answer
99 views
Monochromatic wave
If we have an EM wave like this one:
$$E=\begin{pmatrix}1\\i\\0\end{pmatrix}e^{-i(\omega t-kz)}$$
The wave has clearly only one frequency $\omega$, but is it monochromatic? My doubt is that it's ...
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1answer
82 views
Is the spin state of an atom related to the polarization of the photon it spontaneously emits?
From literature I've been reading, I find that scientists are able to "map" atomic states onto photon states. Are they talking about spin states and corresponding photon polarization states? Can ...
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1answer
55 views
Defining a local polarization field in a distribution of charge
I am currently building a theoretical model where charges of opposite signs are created by pairs and then diffuse and are drifted by an electrical field. I am taking this along a single so far, for ...
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2answers
694 views
Why does it seem like a broken magnet's poles flip?
I just took a rare earth magnet out of an old hard drive. Lacking an appropriate screwdriver, force was used, and the magnet broke into two pieces; one about a quarter of the original size and one ...
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2answers
117 views
What is a photon's speed inside a dieletric?
We know that EM waves are slowed down in a dielectric. But at what speed does the photons that make up the wave travel?
Do they always travel at the speed $c$, but colliding/being absorbed and ...
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3answers
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Why can't my eye see itself in the mirror through polarizing 3D-glasses?
I found a pair of polarizing "3D glasses" lying around, and tried to look at myself in the mirror while wearing them.
To my utter confusion, when closing the left eye and only looking through the ...
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2answers
153 views
Circular polarization: properties and detection
I am thinking about the property of circular polarization of light. I have two circularly polarized beams, one is rounding in positive direction, other is negative. My task is to figure out:
if ...
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1answer
244 views
determine the direction of the polarizing axis
I want to calculate the direction of the polarizing axis of a single polarizer.Is it possible to determine? If possible then How I can determine it?.
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1answer
161 views
3D movie glasses making white light look red and blue
While waiting for a 3D movie to start, I was playing with the glasses they give you. I understand each lens has different polarized filters, so the left and right superimposed images on the screen go ...
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1answer
92 views
Circular Polarization
As one observes an clockwise (cw) circular polarized electromagnetic wave which is reflected off a denser medium or metal interface it is changed to a counter-clockwise (CCW) polarized em wave plus a ...
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5answers
540 views
Why Does Light Not Become Polarized In A Magnetic and/or Electric Field?
I am familiar with the Faraday Effect, but I remain confused as to why the electric and/or magnetic components of light do not naturally align themselves with a magnetic or electric field (in a ...
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2answers
150 views
Is it possible to split a single light beam into two beams of opposite circular polarization?
A properly oriented calcite crystal will separate an unpolarized beam into two beams, one vertically polarized and one horizontally polarized. Other polarizers pass just one polarization and absorb ...
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1answer
104 views
How would one generate Brownian light? What would it look like?
When light is an equal mix of all visible frequencies, we call it white light.
By analogy, sound that is a mix of all audible frequencies is called white noise.
For sound, there is an additional ...
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2answers
216 views
Jones vector and matrices
With Jones vectors and matrices one can describe the change in polarization of a EM wave. What is the convention of the reference coordinate system; Is it fixed or does it change whenever the ...
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1answer
74 views
Measuring the quantum state of light
A clarification please
The following scheme to measure linear polarization states (a single polarizing beam splitter and two photo counters) orientation (as $arctan \sqrt{\frac{v}{h}}$) of coherent ...
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2answers
367 views
Circular polarization of variable-frequency light by 3D cinema glasses
A dominant method to obtain 3D images in the cinemas seems to be circular polarization. Separate pictures are projected with (alternating) circular polarization filters and passive glasses of the ...
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0answers
107 views
Polarization photon and Stokes parameters
I have the following situation: About the polarization of the photon, I introduce the basis:
Horizontal polarization $|\leftrightarrow>=\binom{1}{0}$
Vertical polarization ...
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2answers
228 views
about waveplate and polarization
I have a throlabs half- and quarter-wave plate with rotation plate. There shown the angle scales and a line denotes the fast axis. But what does the angle mean? I do some research and someone said the ...
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1answer
59 views
Spatial and polarizing beam splitters in a graphical calculus
Suppose I have four wires, and I tensor product them together
$A \otimes B \otimes C \otimes D$
I pass $A \otimes B$ through a spatial beam splitter
$Spl: A \otimes B \rightarrow A^\prime \otimes ...
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1answer
54 views
Reason for the convention about polarization states
I'd like to know if there is a special reason for limiting convention of polarization state to waves that can be split in just two components of equal frequency.
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1answer
148 views
Strange light polarization effect?
I spent a while working with MgF2-windowed xenon flash / discharge lamps. Primarily, I characterized their spectra with two normal-incidence spectrometers against a calibrated Deuterium lamp. In this ...
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4answers
456 views
Why is the $S_{z} =0$ state forbidden for photons?
If photons are spin-1 bosons, then doesn't quantum mechanics imply that the allowed values for the z-component of spin (in units of $\hbar$) are -1, 0, and 1?
Why then in practice do we only use the ...
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0answers
156 views
Representing a polarization vector for light as a 'manifold of two state'
Explain me these projections please
Context: I was reading a paper (Phys. Rev. A 68, 052307) which involved mesoscopic coherent states of light. There, in order to calculate the uncertainty of a ...
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2answers
236 views
Why does the electric field dominate in light?
I read a book on the wave property of light where the author mentioned that the electric field, instead of magnetic field, dominates the light property. I don't understand why.
In Maxwell's theory, a ...
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1answer
128 views
about polarization of light
In the course of circuits and electronics, I remember there is an experiment to show the polarization of the wave as lissajous figures. I am wondering for polarized laser, is there any way to ...
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1answer
200 views
Are circular polarizations a basis for any light polarization?
I was trying to solve an exercise in classical optics, consisting in finding the type polarization of certain field profiles. And, by analyzing this one:
$$E_x(z,t) = |E|sin(kz-\omega t)\\
...
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4answers
755 views
What ways are there to measure the local polarization of a laser beam?
Measuring the polarization of a laser beam is a simple enough task if the polarization is the same everywhere. You can even buy commercial polarimeters.
How do you go about it if the light beam has ...
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3answers
348 views
Liquid crystal shutter with >90% transmission?
Today's liquid crystal shutter glasses, when in the "transparent" state, exhibit only 40% light transmission.
They work using two polarizer layers, one which is liquid crystal and goes {vertical ...
