[Physics] Is the beam splitter transformation related to Hamiltonian

quantum mechanicsquantum-electrodynamicsquantum-optics

Consider a general beam splitter with input 'ports,' 1 and 2. It mathematically described by a unitary transformation $\hat{U} = exp[i\theta(\hat{a}_1^\dagger \hat{a}_2+\hat{a}_2^\dagger \hat{a}_1)]$.

Here $\hat{a}_i$ ($i=1$ or $2$) represents the annihilation operators for the electromagnetic field at the two input ports and $\theta$ is defined by writing the reflectivity $|r| = \cos\theta$ and transmissivity $|t|=\sin\theta$. This is one of the many choices of describing the beam splitter.

  1. Is this unitary transformation same as time evolution operator for the electromagnetic field in the beam splitter?
  2. If so what is the Hamiltonian?
  3. Why don't we have time inside the unitary operator shown above?
  4. What is the physical origin of this transformation?

Best Answer

The operator for the beam splitter is simply a unitary transformation that gives the output of the beam splitter directly from the input. It does not incorporate any time evolution. Therefore it is not a Hamiltonian for the system. The Hamiltonian for such a linear system is trivial, because its time evolution is trivial.

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