《Fast light》.pdf

Fast light, slow light, and phase singularities: a connection to generalized weak values D. R. Solli,1 C. F. McCormick,1 R. Y. Chiao,1 S. Popescu,2, 3 and J. M. Hickmann1, 4 1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7300. 2 Univ Bristol, HH Wills Phys Lab, Bristol BS8 1TL, Avon, England. 3 3Hewlett Packard Labs, Bristol BS12 6QZ, Avon, England. 0 4 Departamento de Fısica, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, ´ 0 2 Cidade Universitaria, 57072-970, Maceio, AL, Brazil. ´ ´ t c O Abstract 7 We demonstrate that Aharonov-Albert-Vaidman (AAV) weak values have a direct relationship with the 1 v response function of a system, and have a much wider range of applicability in both the classical and 8 4 quantum domains than previously thought. Using this idea, we have built an optical system, based on a 0 0 birefringent photonic crystal, with an infinite number of weak values. In this system, the propagation speed 1 3 of a polarized light pulse displays both superluminal and slow light behavior with a sharp transition between 0 / h the two regimes. We show that this system’s response possesses two-dimensional, vortex-antivortex phase p t- singularities. Important consequences for optical signal processing are discussed. n a u q : v i X r a 1 The role of measurement in quantum mechanics has posed challenges for physicists for nearly a century. Standard quantum mechanics represents ideal measurements as the action of a Hilbert- space ope