Photon stream impinging on half-silvered mirror

Billyneutron
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
In the classic experiment, light impinges on half-silvered mirror, the mirror reflects just half the light and transmits the rest.

The photon before encounter with the mirror is [A>, then afterwards it evolves according to U to become [B> + i[C> (where C is the reflected light). The imaginary factor "i" is said to arise because of a net phase shift by a quarter of a wavelength which occurs between reflected and transmitted beams.

I'm confused with this last part- Why, again, is "I" used? I'm unclear about the phase shift by 1/4 wavelength. Can anyone explain this in laymens?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
anyone?
 

Thread 'Why Entangled Photon-Polarization Qubits Violate Bell’s Inequality'

Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. In her YouTube video Bell’s Theorem Experiments on Entangled Photons, Dr. Fugate shows how polarization-entangled photons violate Bell’s inequality. In this Insight, I will use quantum information theory to explain why such entangled photon-polarization qubits violate the version of Bell’s inequality due to John Clauser, Michael Horne, Abner Shimony, and Richard Holt known as the...
View full post »

Thread 'Schrödinger equation and classical wave equation'

Not an expert in QM. AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is quite different from the classical wave equation. The former is an equation for the dynamics of the state of a (quantum?) system, the latter is an equation for the dynamics of a (classical) degree of freedom. As a matter of fact, Schrödinger's equation is first order in time derivatives, while the classical wave equation is second order. But, AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is a wave equation; only its interpretation makes it non-classical...
View full post »

Thread 'How strong is the justification for low probability extreme thermal fluctuations?'

I asked a question related to a table levitating but I am going to try to be specific about my question after one of the forum mentors stated I should make my question more specific (although I'm still not sure why one couldn't have asked if a table levitating is possible according to physics). Specifically, I am interested in knowing how much justification we have for an extreme low probability thermal fluctuation that results in a "miraculous" event compared to, say, a dice roll. Does a...
View full post »

Similar threads

I The HOM Effect, Path Entanglement, and Generation
Replies
5
Views
2K
I 2-photon interference question
2
Replies
76
Views
6K
B Photon and half-silvered mirror
Replies
17
Views
5K
How Does Reflection Affect Photon Phase Shift in Quantum Experiments?
Replies
4
Views
5K
Energy transfer during photon interaction
Replies
11
Views
3K
A What happens when entangled photons are split into different paths?
Replies
41
Views
6K
Half-Silvered Mirrors Inverting Photon Waves
Replies
2
Views
3K
B Reactionless Drive Using Light Bouncing Off Moving Mirrors
Replies
2
Views
1K
I What happens when circular polarization meets a diagonal polarizer?
Replies
20
Views
3K
Does the photon wavelenght come back to original when one path is blocked ?
Replies
7
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top