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Specifically, given that this is a circularly polarized plane wave, these vectors indicate that the electric field, from plane to plane, has a constant strength while its direction steadily rotates. Refer to these two images [dead link ] in the plane wave article to better appreciate this dynamic. This light is considered to be right-hand ...
Now, right circularly polarized light (depending on the convention used) has its electric (and magnetic) field direction rotating clockwise while propagating in the +z direction. Upon reflection, the field still has the same direction of rotation, but now propagation is in the −z direction making the reflected wave left circularly polarized.
Photon polarization is the quantum mechanical description of the classical polarized sinusoidal plane electromagnetic wave.An individual photon can be described as having right or left circular polarization, or a superposition of the two.
The term is also used, even more specifically, to mean a "monochromatic" or sinusoidal plane wave: a travelling plane wave whose profile () is a sinusoidal function. That is, (,) = (() +) The parameter , which may be a scalar or a vector, is called the amplitude of the wave; the scalar coefficient is its "spatial frequency"; and the scalar is its "phase shift".
Optical rotation, also known as polarization rotation or circular birefringence, is the rotation of the orientation of the plane of polarization about the optical axis of linearly polarized light as it travels through certain materials. Circular birefringence and circular dichroism are the manifestations of optical activity.
Fig. 1: Field vectors (E, D, B, H) and propagation directions (ray and wave-normal) for linearly-polarized plane electromagnetic waves in a non-magnetic birefringent crystal. [1] The plane of vibration, containing both electric vectors (E & D) and both propagation vectors, is sometimes called the "plane of polarization" by modern authors.
For a single plane-wave photon, the spin can only have two values , which are eigenvalues of the spin operator ^. The corresponding eigenfunctions describing photons with well defined values of SAM are described as circularly polarized waves: | ± = ( 1 ± i 0 ) . {\displaystyle |\pm \rangle ={\begin{pmatrix}1\\\pm i\\0\end{pmatrix}}.}
This can be better understood if we consider a wave of light that is circularly polarized (seen to the right). If this wave interacts with a material at which the horizontal component (green sinusoid) travels at a different speed than the vertical component (blue sinusoid), the two components will fall out of the 90 degree phase difference ...