Verantwortliche(r): Lars Andersson, Jeremie Joudioux, Marius Oancea

During the winter semester 2018-19, we'll focus on the dynamics on spinning fields in general relativity. According to the postulates of general relativity, test particles without internal structure propagate along geodesics. Similarly, according to geometric optics, high frequency wave packets propagate along null geodesics. However, taking into account internal structure and backreaction leads to modified dynamics, often referred to as spin-orbit coupling.

An important manifestation of this phenomenon is the Spin Hall Effect (SHE), which is due to spin-dependent particle trajectories. The SHE has been experimentally observed for electrons in materials with spin-orbit coupling, but also for light propagating in an inhomogenous medium. It is also expected to occur for light propagating in a curved spacetime, eg. in the vicinity of a compact object. In the analysis of these effects, non-local geometric phases related to the Berry phase play an important role.

In the seminar, we shall introduce the basic concepts necessary for understanding the SHE and related phenomena for relativistic spinning fields,  Maxwell, Dirac and gravitation. Other possible topics, depending on the interests of the participants include the Matheson-Papapetrou-Dixon formalism which is widely used for spin-orbit coupling, conservation laws related to intrinsic spin and orbital angular momentum, and the dynamics of solitons in relativistic field equations.

The seminar will take place on thursdays 11:00-12:30 at the Albert Einstein Institute, Golm, Seminar room 0.01. The first meeting will take place on Oct. 25 (note there will be no meeting on Oct 18).

When:
Thursday 11:00-12:30

Where:
AEI, Room 0.01

Seminar talks:
Upcoming talks

Suitable for:
MSc Mathematik, PhD students, PostDocs

Modulnummer(n):
851, 852, MATVMD411, MATVMD1011, MATVMD1012

Prerequisites:
Differential Geometry, some General Relativity

Literature:
1. Robert Wald, General Relativity, Univ. Chicago Press, 1984
2. Dariusz Chruscinski, Andrzej Jamiolkowski, Geometric phases in classical and quantum mechanics, Birkhäuser 2004