Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Transverse spin of photon 
Name: econser
Status: N/a
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Around 1993
Question:
I read somewhere that the photon has three spin states, but since it travels at the speed of light the t, the transverse state does not exist. Why is this?


Replies:
A partial response...The photon only has the transverse polarization of the electric and magnetic fields. If these are what are called circularly polarized (the electric vector spins either clockwise or counter-clockwise around the direction of travel) then the "spin" is along the direction of travel. In this sense the transverse spin state of the photon does not exist.

Sam Bowen


Click here to return to the Physics Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory