Photons in polychromatic rotating modes
arXiv:0707.3434 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.76.053825
Abstract
We propose a quantum theory of rotating light beams and study some of its properties. Such beams are polychromatic and have either a slowly rotating polarization or a slowly rotating transverse mode pattern. We show there are, for both cases, three different natural types of modes that qualify as rotating, one of which is a new type not previously considered. We discuss differences between these three types of rotating modes on the one hand and non-rotating modes as viewed from a rotating frame of reference on the other. We present various examples illustrating the possible use of rotating photons, mostly for quantum information processing purposes. We introduce in this context a rotating version of the two-photon singlet state.
enormously expanded: 12 pages, 3 figures; a new, more informative, but less elegant title, especially designed for Phys. Rev. A
References in corpus (1)
Cited by in corpus (4)
- Reply to the Comment on "Spin and orbital angular momentum in gauge theories: Nucleon spin structure and multipole radiation revisited" [PRL 100:232002 (2008)]
- Spin and orbital angular momentum in gauge theories: Nucleon spin structure and multipole radiation revisited
- Self-Spin-Controlled Rotation of Spatial States of a Dirac Electron in a Cylindrical Potential via Spin-Orbit Interaction
- Rotating light, OAM paradox and relativistic complex scalar field