Geometric aspects of phonon polarization transport

TL;DR

This paper explores the geometric and quantum mechanical aspects of phonon polarization transport, revealing Berry effects and polarization rotation phenomena that are resilient to thermal fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum mechanical approach to phonon polarization transport that incorporates system fluctuations and predicts Berry effects and polarization rotation.

Findings

Berry effect terms manifest as Rytov polarization rotation and Hall effect

Rytov rotation angle distribution remains stable under thermal noise

Polarization transport exhibits geometric phase effects

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.