Geometric aspects of phonon polarization transport

Abstract

We study the polarization transport of transverse phonons by adopting a new approach based on the quantum mechanics of spin-orbit interactions. This approach has the advantage of being apt for incorporating fluctuations in the system. The formalism gives rise to Berry effect terms manifested as the Rytov polarization rotation law and the polarization-dependent Hall effect. We derive the distribution of the Rytov rotation angle in the presence of thermal noise and show that the rotation angle is robust against fluctuations.