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    • Relativistic operator description of photon polarization

      Arvind N Mukunda

      Volume 47 Issue 5 November 1996 pp 347-359

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      Permanent link:
      https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/pram/047/05/0347-0359

    • Keywords

       

      Photon polarization; Poincarè group representations; massless particles

    • Abstract

       

      We present an operator approach to the description of photon polarization, based on Wigner’s concept of elementary relativistic systems. The theory of unitary representations of the Poincarè group, and of parity, is exploited to construct spinlike operators acting on the polarization states of a photon at each fixed energy momentum. The nontrivial topological features of these representations relevant for massless particles, and the departures from the treatment of massive finite spin representations are highlighted and addressed.

    • Author Affiliations

       

      Arvind1 N Mukunda1 2 3

      1. Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560 012, India
      2. Centre for Theoretical Studies and Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560 012, India
      3. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore - 560 064, India

    • Dates

       
      Published
      November 1996
      Manuscript received
      27 July 1996
      Manuscript revised
      16 October 1996

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