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Operator for Describing Polarization States of a Photon
Based on the quantized electromagnetic field described by the
Riemann-Silberstein complex vector , we construct the eigenvector set of , which makes up an orthonormal and complete representation. In terms of we then introduce a new operator which can describe the relative ratio of the
left-handed and right-handed polarization states of a polarized photon .In
eigenvector basis the operator manifestly exhibits a behaviour
which is similar to a phase difference between two orientations of polarization
of a light beam in classical optics.Comment: This version (5 pages) will be published in the European Physical
Journal
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