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Duplex symmetry and its relation to the conservation of optical helicity

Barnett, Stephen M. and Cameron, Robert P. and Yao, Alison M. (2012) Duplex symmetry and its relation to the conservation of optical helicity. Physical Review A, 86 (1). ISSN 1094-1622

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Abstract

Helicity is a familiar concept in particle physics and also appears in the physics of fluids and plasmas. In this paper, we present the optical helicity in a form readily applicable to both quantum and classical problems. We examine the relationship between the optical helicity and the more familiar optical spin and show that the conservation of helicity is an expression of the electric-magnetic symmetry for light. We show that helicity is distinct from Lipkin's 00-zilch; a simple relationship exists between the two only for monochromatic fields. It is only the optical helicity that has the correct dimensions of an angular momentum, thereby accurately describing the helicity of light. To illustrate the physical significance of the optical helicity, we consider a circularly polarized plane wave and the field emitted by a rotating electric dipole.

Item type: Article
ID code: 41158
Keywords: duplex symmetry , optical helicity, conservation, orbital angular-momentum, carry , spin, fields, plane-wave, question number-79, Physics, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Subjects: Science > Physics
Department: Faculty of Science > Physics
Depositing user: Pure Administrator
Date deposited: 17 Sep 2012 15:01
Last modified: 29 Jun 2018 03:07
URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/41158
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