Does the photon have a spin?

Electrons and quarks (particles of matter) can have a spin of –1/2 or +1/2; photons (particles of light) can have a spin of –1 or +1; and Higgs bosons must have a spin of 0. Though particle spins are tiny, they have an impact on our everyday world. The spin property of photons allows us to create 3D movies.

Is spin the same as polarization?

Mathematically the spin states are like the left and right circularly polarized waves, so their sum and difference are like the x and y polarized waves but one of them shifted by a phase, and the 45 degrees tilted ones really are literal sums and differences of the x and y (in phase) waves.

Why does photon have no mass?

Why do photons have no mass? In short, the special theory of relativity predicts that photons do not have mass simply because they travel at the speed of light. This is also backed up by the theory of quantum electrodynamics, which predicts that photons cannot have mass as a result of U(1) -gauge symmetry.

What causes particle spin?

There are two things that contribute to angular momentum: spin, which is the intrinsic angular momentum inherent to any fundamental particle, and orbital angular momentum, which is what you get from two or more fundamental particles that make up a composite particle.

Does a photon have polarization?

Photon polarization is the quantum mechanical description of the classical polarized sinusoidal plane electromagnetic wave. An individual photon can be described as having right or left circular polarization, or a superposition of the two.

What causes spin polarization?

1.2. Spin polarization is the degree to which the spin, that is, the intrinsic angular momentum of elementary particles, is aligned with a given direction. This property may pertain to the spin, hence to the magnetic moment, of conduction electrons in ferromagnetic materials giving rise to spin-polarized currents.