Quantum field theory for coherent photons: isomorphism between Stokes parameters and spin expectation values

Abstract

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Stokes parameters (S) on the Poincaré sphere are very useful values to describe the polarisation state of photons. However, the fundamental principle on the nature of polarisation is not completely understood, yet, because we have no concrete consensus on how to describe spin of photons, quantum-mechanically. Here, we have considered a monochromatic coherent ray of photons, described by a many-body coherent state, and established a fundamental basis to describe the spin state of photons, in connection with a classical description based on Stokes parameters. We show that a spinor description of the coherent state is equivalent to Jones vector for polarisation states, and obtain the spin operators (Ŝ) of all components based on rotators in an SU(2) group theory. Polarisation controllers such as phase-shifters and rotators are also obtained as quantum-mechanical field operators to change the phase of the wavefunction for polarisation states. We show that the Stokes parameters are quantum-mechanical average of the spin operators, S=⟨Ŝ⟩.

Keywords

• Stokes parameters
• poincaré sphere
• polarisation
• spin angular momentum
• SU(2)
• coherent state