Quantum Metric and Nonlinear Hall Effect of Photons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that photons have a nontrivial quantum metric affecting their trajectories, leading to a nonlinear Hall effect of light and corrections to gravitational lensing, derived via path-integral formalism.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of a quantum metric for photons and derives its effects on light propagation and gravitational lensing using semiclassical and path-integral approaches.

Findings

Quantum metric induces second-order trajectory shifts in media with varying refractive index.

Nonlinear Hall effect of light arises from quantum metric in momentum space.

Quantum metric causes nonlinear corrections to gravitational lensing in curved spacetime.

Abstract

Using the path-integral formalism, we show that photons possess a nontrivial quantum metric in momentum space. We derive the semiclassical action and equations of motion by taking into account the quantum metric. In media with a spatially varying refractive index $n(\mathbf{x})$, the quantum metric induces a shift in the trajectory of light at second order in derivatives of $n$, which may be regarded as a nonlinear Hall effect of light. The quantum metric also gives rise to corrections to gravitational lensing in curved spacetime at the nonlinear order in wavelength. This gravitational nonlinear Hall effect results from the interplay between the geometry of position space and that of momentum space.