Lorentz-boost eigenmodes

Bliokh, Konstantin Y.

doi:10.1103/physreva.98.012143

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…By separately using the time component and the spatial three-dimensional position vector r, one can define the conventional three-dimensional angular momentum density J [43,48,[62][63][64] and the boost momentum density N [3,54,65,66] as…”

Section: A Definition Of the Angular Momentum Tensormentioning

confidence: 99%

Covariant theory of light in a dispersive medium

Partanen

Tulkki

2021

Phys. Rev. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The relativistic theory of the time-and position-dependent energy and momentum densities of light in glasses and other low-loss dispersive media, where different wavelengths of light propagate at different phase velocities, has remained a largely unsolved challenge until now. This is astonishing in view of the excellent overall theoretical understanding of Maxwell's equations and the abundant experimental measurements of optical phenomena in dispersive media. The challenge is related to the complexity of the interference patterns of partial waves and to the coupling of the field and medium dynamics by the optical force on the medium atoms. In this work, we use the mass-polariton theory of light [Phys. Rev. A 96, 063834 (2017)] to derive the stressenergy-momentum (SEM) tensors of the field and the dispersive medium. Our starting point, the fundamental local conservation laws of energy and momentum densities in classical field theory, is close to that of a recent theoretical work on light in dispersive media by Philbin [Phys. Rev. A 83, 013823 (2011)], which, however, excludes the power-conversion and force density source terms describing the coupling between the field and the medium. In the general inertial frame, we present the SEM tensors in terms of Lorentz scalars, four-vectors, and field tensors that reflect in a transparent way the Lorentz covariance of the theory. The SEM tensors of the field and the medium are symmetric, form-invariant for all inertial observers, and in full accordance with the covariance principle of the special theory of relativity. When the power-conversion and force density source terms are accounted for, there is no need to introduce asymmetric SEM tensors or heuristic symmetrization procedures even for the field and medium subsystems. Therefore, asymmetric SEM tensors based on strictly classical energy and momentum densities, which have been studied in previous literature, do not account for all aspects in the field-medium coupling of electromagnetic waves. However, being based on classical field theory, the present work prompts for further groundwork on the classical limit of the quantum mechanical spin of light in a medium. The SEM tensor of the coupled field-medium state of light also has zero four-divergence. Therefore, light in a dispersive medium has a well-defined four-momentum and rest frame. The volume integrals of the total energy and momentum densities of light agree with the model of mass-polariton quasiparticles having a nonzero rest mass. The coupled field-medium state of light drives forward an atomic mass density wave, which makes the constant center-of-energy velocity law of an isolated system-a fundamental conservation law of nature-satisfied. This provides strong evidence for the consistency of the theory. The predictions of our work, such as the atomic mass density wave associated with light, are accessible to experiments.

show abstract

Section: A Definition Of the Angular Momentum Tensormentioning

confidence: 99%

Covariant theory of light in a dispersive medium

Partanen

Tulkki

2021

Phys. Rev. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is also convenient to define the related quantity N , which is, in the recent optics literature [40][41][42], called boost momentum by…”

Section: G Angular Momentum Tensormentioning

confidence: 99%

Lorentz covariance of the mass-polariton theory of light

Partanen

Tulkki

2019

Phys. Rev. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the mass-polariton (MP) theory of light formulated by us recently [Phys. Rev. A 95, 063850 (2017)], light in a medium is described as a coupled state of the field and matter. The key result of the MP theory is that the optical force of light propagating in a transparent material drives forward an atomic mass density wave (MDW). In previous theories, it has been well understood that the medium carries part of the momentum of light. The MP theory is fundamentally different since it shows that this momentum is associated with the MDW that carries a substantial atomic mass density and the related rest energy with light. In this work, we prove the Lorentz covariance of the MP theory and show how the stress-energy-momentum (SEM) tensor of the MP transforms between arbitrary inertial frames. We also compare the MP SEM tensor with the conventional Minkowski SEM tensor and show how the well-known fundamental problems of the Minkowski SEM tensor become solved by the SEM tensor based on the MP theory. We have particularly written our work for non-expert readers by pointing out how the Lorentz transformation and various conservation laws and symmetries of the special theory of relativity are fulfilled in the MP theory.

show abstract

“…The scalar prefactors ρ a /γ 2 va and ρ a0 /γ 2 va0 of the outer products of four-velocities in Eqs. (48) and ( 49) are both Lorentz invariants since they are equal to the mass densities in the local rest frames of the disturbed and equilibrium states of the medium, respectively.…”

Section: Quantitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SEM tensor of the atomic MDW in the G frame, T MDW , is obtained as the difference of T mat and T mat,0 , given in Eqs. (48) and (49). Using the excess mass density of the medium driven forward by the generalized optical force in the G frame, defined by ρ MDW = ρ a − ρ a0 , and the local position-and time-dependent energy velocity of the MDW, defined by v MDW = (ρ a v a − ρ a0 v a0 )/ρ MDW , T MDW is given by…”

Section: Sem Tensor Of the Atomic Mdw In The G Framementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Covariant theory of light in a dispersive medium

Partanen,

Tulkki

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The relativistic theory of the time-and position-dependent energy and momentum densities of light in glasses and other low-loss dispersive media, where different wavelengths of light propagate at different phase velocities, has remained a largely unsolved challenge until now. This is astonishing in view of the excellent overall theoretical understanding of Maxwell's equations and the abundant experimental measurements of optical phenomena in dispersive media. The challenge is related to the complexity of the interference patterns of partial waves and to the coupling of the field and medium dynamics by the optical force on the medium atoms. In this work, we use the masspolariton theory of light [Phys. Rev. A 96, 063834 (2017)] to derive the stress-energy-momentum (SEM) tensors of the field and the dispersive medium. Our starting point, the fundamental local conservation laws of energy and momentum, is close to that of a recent theoretical work on light in dispersive media by Philbin [Phys. Rev. A 83, 013823 (2011)], which however, excludes the powerconversion and force density source terms describing the coupling between the field and the medium. In the general inertial frame, we present the SEM tensors in terms of Lorentz scalars, four-vectors, and field tensors that reflect in a transparent way the Lorentz covariance of the theory. The SEM tensors of the field and the medium are symmetric, form-invariant for all inertial observers, and in full accordance with the covariance principle of the special theory of relativity. The SEM tensor of the coupled field-medium state of light also has zero four-divergence. Therefore, light in a dispersive medium has well-defined four-momentum and rest frame. The volume integrals of the total energy and momentum densities of light agree with the model of mass-polariton quasiparticles having a nonzero rest mass. The coupled field-medium state of light drives forward an atomic mass density wave, which makes the constant center-of-energy velocity law of an isolated system -a fundamental conservation law of nature -satisfied. This provides strong evidence for the consistency of the theory. The predictions of our work, such as the atomic mass density wave associated with light, are accessible to experiments.

show abstract

Lorentz-boost eigenmodes

Cited by 10 publications

References 39 publications

Covariant theory of light in a dispersive medium

Covariant theory of light in a dispersive medium

Lorentz covariance of the mass-polariton theory of light

Covariant theory of light in a dispersive medium

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About