Expedited Award for Novel Research: Berry's Phase of PhotonsIn Optical Fibers: Quantal Aspects

Chiao博士提出了一个创新的实验来测试量子波动方程中相位因子的量子力学性质，该相位因子是由量子系统在参数空间中围绕闭合电路的绝热传输而获得的，&amp；是电路的拓扑特性。Chiao博士及其合作者最近利用螺旋缠绕光纤的偏振旋转，在经典极限下进行了Berry相位的光学演示。这些令人兴奋的实验最近发表在《物理评论快报》上，并在1986年9月18日的《自然》杂志上发表了一篇广泛的新闻文章。目前有相当大的争议，观察到的相移是纯粹的经典性质。在单光子极限下，通过提出的光纤干涉测量法对相位的量子性质进行测试，可以在经典力学和量子力学之间建立新的对应关系。光子作为具有自旋的粒子可以获得其相位的拓扑非平凡历史依赖。Chiao指出了Berry相位产生的几个潜在的新应用，例如，在陀螺仪中，这种新型的光学活性可以用来检测相对于空间中固定惯性系的旋转。

Dr. Chiao has proposed an innovative experiment to test the quantum mechanical nature of a phase factor in the quantum wave equation whose existence was recently predicted by M.V. Berry of Bristol U. This phase factor is acquired by a quantum system upon its adiabatic transport around a closed circuit in parameter space, & is a topological property of the circuit. Dr. Chiao & collaborators recently carried out an optical demonstration of the Berry phase in the classical limit using polarization rotation in a helically-wound optical fiber. The excitement of these experiments, which were recently published in Physical Review Letters, was captured in an extensive news article in the 9/18/86 issue of Nature. There is currently considerable controversy that the observed phase shifts are purely classical in nature. A test of the quantum nature of the phase through proposed fiber-optic interferometry in the singly photon limit could establish a novel correspondence between classical and quantum mechanics. The photon as a particle with spin could acquire a topologically nontrivial history dependence of its phase. Chiao points out several potential novel applications arising from the Berry phase, such as, in gyroscopy where this new type of optical activity could be exploited to detect rotations with respect to a fixed inertial frame in space.