Monomode photon spin operators projected onto the fixed frame and quantum-vacuum geometric phases of photons inside a noncoplanar optical fibre

Abstract

The propagation of monomode photons inside a coiled optical fibre was regarded as a time-dependent quantum evolution process, which gives rise to a geometric phase. It is well known that the investigation of non-adiabatic geometric phases ought to be performed only in the Schrödinger picture. So, the projections of photon spin operators onto the fixed frame of reference is discussed in this paper. In addition, we also treat the non-normal-order spin operators and consider the potential effects (e.g., quantum-vacuum geometric phases) of quantum fluctuation fields arising in a curved optical fibre. The quantum-vacuum geometric phase, which is of physical interest, can be deducted by using the operator normal product, and the doubt of validity and universality for the normal-normal procedure applied to time-dependent quantum systems is thus proposed. In the Appendix, the discussion of possible experimental realizations of quantum-vacuum geometric phases is briefly presented.