Electric-Magnetic Geometric Phase

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel optical geometric phase arising in nonparaxial light due to cyclic electric-magnetic field changes, represented on a new electric-magnetic sphere.

Contribution

It proposes a new type of geometric phase specific to nonparaxial light, expanding the understanding of optical phases beyond polarization and spin.

Findings

Identifies a new geometric phase in nonparaxial light.

Represents this phase on a newly introduced electric-magnetic sphere.

Highlights the phase's dependence on electric and magnetic field interplay.

Abstract

Geometric phases play an enormous role in optics and are generally associated with the evolution of light's polarization state on the Poincar\'{e} sphere, or its spin on the sphere of spin directions. Here we put forward a new kind of optical geometric phase that appears exclusively in nonparaxial light, resulting from cyclic changes to the relative amplitude and phase between the electric and magnetic fields. This phase is naturally represented on a recently introduced `electric-magnetic' sphere.