Wednesday, May 23, 2012

1205.4929 (T. G. Philbin et al.)

Optical angular momentum in dispersive media    [PDF]

T. G. Philbin, O. Allanson
The angular momentum density and flux of light in a dispersive, rotationally symmetric medium are derived from Noether's theorem. Optical angular momentum in a dispersive medium has no simple relation to optical linear momentum, even if the medium is homogeneous. A circularly polarized monochromatic beam in a homogeneous, dispersive medium carries a spin angular momentum per unit energy of $\pm\omega^{-1}$, as in vacuum. This result demonstrates the non-trivial interplay of dispersive contributions to optical angular momentum and energy.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.4929

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