The issue of photons in dielectrics: Hamiltonian viewpoint

Abstract

The definition of the photon in the vacuum of general relativity provided by Kermack et al. and by Synge is extended to nondispersive, nonhomogeneous, isotropic dielectrics in arbitrary motion by Hamiltonian methods that rely on Gordon's effective metric. By these methods the old dilemma, whether the momentum-energy vector of the photon in dielectrics is timelike or spacelike in character, is shown to reappear under a novel guise.