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Register a new userLaws of conservation of momentum and angular momentum in classical electrodynamics of material media
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Added by
Alexander Kholmetskii
Publication date
2014
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We analyze the laws of conservation of momentum and angular momentum in classical electrodynamics of material media with bound charges, and explore the possibility to describe the properties of such media via a discrete set of point-like charges of zero size (as imposed by special relativity), and via continuous charge/current distributions. This way we put a question: do we have to recognize the infinite fields at the location of elementary charges as the essential physical requirement, or such infinite fields can be ignored via introduction of continuous charge distribution? In order to answer this question, we consider the interaction of a homogeneously charged insulating plate with a compact magnetic dipole, moving along the plate. We arrive at the apparent violation of the angular momentum conservation law and show that this law is re-covered, when the electric field at the location of each elementary charge of the plate is taken infinite. This result signifies that the description of electromagnetic properties of material media via the continuous charge and current distributions is not a universal approximation, and at the fundamental level, we have to deal with a system of elementary discrete charges of zero size, at least in the analysis of laws of conservation of momentum and angular momentum.
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Understanding the momentum of light when propagating through optical media is not only fundamental for studies as varied as classical electrodynamics and polaritonics in condensed matter physics, but also for important applications such as optical-force manipulations and photovoltaics. From a microscopic perspective, an optical medium is in fact a complex system that can split the light momentum into the electromagnetic field, as well as the material electrons and the ionic lattice. Here, we disentangle the partition of momentum associated with light propagation in optical media, and develop a quantum theory to explicitly calculate its distribution. The material momentum here revealed, which is distributed among electrons and ionic lattice, leads to the prediction of unexpected phenomena. In particular, the electron momentum manifests through an intrinsic DC current, and strikingly, we find that under certain conditions this current can be along the photonic wave vector, implying an optical pulling effect on the electrons. Likewise, an optical pulling effect on the lattice can also be observed, such as in graphene during plasmon propagation. We also predict the emergence of boundary electric dipoles associated with light transmission through finite media, offering a microscopic explanation of optical pressure on material boundaries.
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Exact conservation of the angular momentum is worked out for an elastic medium with spins. The intrinsic anharmonicity of the elastic theory is shown to be crucial for conserving the total momentum. As a result, any spin-lattice dynamics inevitably involves multiphonon processes and interaction between phonons. This makes transitions between spin states in a solid fundamentally different from transitions between atomic states in vacuum governed by linear electrodynamics. Consequences for using solid-state spins as qubits are discussed.
Spin and orbital angular momentum of an optical beam are two independent parameters that exhibit distinct effects on mechanical objects. However, when laser beams with angular momentum interact with plasmas, one can observe the interplay between the spin and the orbital angular momentum. Here, by measuring the helical phase of the second harmonic 2{omega} radiation generated in an underdense plasma using a known spin and orbital angular momentum pump beam, we verify that the total angular momentum of photons is conserved and observe the conversion of spin to orbital angular momentum. We further determine the source of the 2{omega} photons by analyzing near field intensity distributions of the 2{omega} light. The 2{omega} images are consistent with these photons being generated near the largest intensity gradients of the pump beam in the plasma as predicted by the combined effect of spin and orbital angular momentum when Laguerre-Gaussian beams are used.
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