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Quite simple approach is the scattering model, which considers reflected and transmitted wave as a scattering pattern by the dipoles induced in the second medium. This model is originally due to Sagnac, but it has been included in a number of textbooks. A good resource for this model is a paper Doyle, W. T. (1985). Scattering approach to Fresnel’s equations ...

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Not sure I understand what exactly you mean by timing the measurement. If we reduce the frequency enough so that we are dealing with low frequency radio waves, then one can measure the direction of the field based on the force it would exert on a charged particle. However, for light, the frequency is too high to do that. The integration time of a photo ...

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To properly describe the polarization state of a photon, it is useful to introduce some concepts of quantum optics. The polarization is in fact one of the possible degrees of freedom of a photon. As a matter of convenience, we can assume as a base for the polarization state of the photons the one formed by two orthogonal axis (e.g. an horizontal axis and a ...

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The wording of the question is problematical. A vertically polarized photon can pass only once through a polarizer, so it makes no sense to ask about "half of the time." Here's what quantum mechanics says: Consider an experiment in which a single photon is prepared in a state of vertical polarization. The photon interacts with a diagonal (45 degrees ...

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The Dirac spinor can be interpreted in terms of left/right chiral spinors because the Dirac representation is a reducible representation of the Lorentz group, $$(\tfrac12,0)\oplus (0,\tfrac12)\tag1$$ On the other hand, the vector representation of the Lorentz group is irreducible, $$(\tfrac12,\tfrac12)\tag2$$ and, as such, no analogous interpretation is ...

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