A monochromatic linear source of light is rotated with certain angular frequency and when such light is analysed after reflection then a change of frequency or wavelength may be observed depending on the location of the observer. This change of frequency or wavelength is different from the classical Doppler effect [1] or relativistic Doppler effect [2]. The reason behind this shift in wavelength is that a certain time interval observed by an observer in the rotating frame is different from that of a stationary observer.
The well-known linear Doppler effect arises from the linear motion between source and observer, while the less well-known rotational Doppler effect arises from the rotational motion. Here, we present both theories and experiments illustrating the relationship between the rotational and linear Doppler effects. A spiral phaseplate is used to generate a light beam carrying orbital angular momentum and the frequency shift is measured arising from its rotational and/or linear motion. By considering either the motion-induced time-evolving phase or the momentum and energy conservation in light-matter…
We theoretically investigate the optical rotational Doppler Effect using modal expansion method. We find that the frequency shift content is only determined by the surface of spinning object and the reduced Doppler shift is linear to the change of mode index. The theoretical model makes us better understand the physical processes of rotational Doppler Effect. It can provide theoretical guidance for many related applications, such as detection of rotating bodies, detection of OAM and frequency shift.
Doppler cooling is a widely used technique to laser cool atoms and nanoparticles exploiting the Doppler shift involved in translational transformations. The rotational Doppler effect arising from rotational coordinate transformations should similarly enable optical manipulations of the rotational degrees of freedom in rotating nanosystems. Here, we show that rotational Doppler cooling and heating (RDC and RDH) effects embody rich and unexplored physics, such as a strong dependence on particle morphology. For geometrically confined particles, such as a nanorod that can represent diatomic molecu…
We present a theoretical model to sufficiently investigate the optical rotational Doppler effect based on modal expansion method. We find that the frequency shift content is only determined by the surface of spinning object and the reduced Doppler shift is linear to the difference of mode index between input and output orbital angular momentum (OAM) light, and linear to the rotating speed of spinning object as well. An experiment is carried out to verify the theoretical model. We explicitly suggest that the spatial spiral phase distribution of spinning object determines the frequency content. …
We propose and substantiate experimentally the cascaded rotational Doppler effect for interactions of spinning objects with light carrying angular momentum. Based on the law of parity conservation for electromagnetic interactions, we reveal that the frequency shift can be doubled through cascading two rotational Doppler processes which are mirror-imaged to each other. This effect is further experimentally verified with a rotating half-wave plate, and the mirror-imaging process is achieved by reflecting the frequency-shifted circularly polarized wave upon a mirror with a quarter-wave plate in f…
We explain the rotational Doppler effect associated with light beams carrying with orbital angular momentum in left-handed materials (LHMs). We demonstrate that the rotational Doppler effect in LHMs is unreversed, which is significantly different from the linear Doppler effect. The physics underlying this intriguing effect is the combined contributions of negative phase velocity and inverse screw of wave-front. In the normal dispersion region, the rotational Doppler effect induces a upstream energy flow but a downstream momentum flow. In the anomalous dispersion region, however, the rotational…
Cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) detection is of vital significance in kinds of studies such as particle observation, mode-division multiplexing. Here we realize a comprehensive detection of cylindrical vector beams based on the rotational Doppler effect including analysis of topological charges, amplitudes, and phases for mode bases. We construct a mode demultiplexing scheme to obtain the amplitudes, phases in beating signal of collected scattering light by Fourier transformation. The method resolves both absolute values and signs of topological charges ofCVB simultaneously, which can not be s…
The function to measure orbital angular momentum (OAM) distribution of vortex light is essential for OAM applications. Although there are lots of works to measure OAM modes, it is difficult to measure the power distribution of different OAM modes quantitatively and instantaneously, let alone measure the phase distribution among them. In this work, we demonstrate an OAM complex spectrum analyzer, which enables to measure the power and phase distribution of OAM modes simultaneously by employing rotational Doppler Effect. The original OAM mode distribution is mapped to electrical spectrum of beat…
When circularly polarized light is scattered from a rotating target, a rotational Doppler shift (RDS) emerges from an exchange of angular momentum between the spinning object and the electromagnetic field. Here, we used coherently spinning molecules to generate a shift of the frequency of a circularly polarized probe propagating through a gaseous sample. We used a linearly polarized laser pulse to align the molecules, followed by a second delayed pulse polarized at 45° to achieve unidirectional molecular rotation. The measured RDS is orders of magnitude greater than previously observed by othe…
The frequency shift of a helical light beam experiencing the rotation near the axis deferring from its own axis (conical evolution) is studied theoretically. Both the energy and the kinematic approaches lead to a paradoxical conclusion that after a whole cycle of the system rotation the beam does not return to its initial state. Another paradox is manifested in the peculiar behavior of the beam transverse pattern rotation at different geometric parameters of the evolving system. A fundamental role of the detecting system motion is substantiated. The special "natural" observer's motion is found…
We compute the shift in the frequency of the spin resonance in a solid that rotates in the field of a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave. Electron spin resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance, and ferromagnetic resonance are considered. We show that contrary to the case of the rotating LC circuit, the shift in the frequency of the spin resonance has strong dependence on the symmetry of the receiver. The shift due to rotation occurs only when rotational symmetry is broken by the anisotropy of the gyromagnetic tensor, by the shape of the body, or by magnetocrystalline anisotropy. General ex…
The rotational Doppler shift of a photon with orbital angular momentum $\pm \ell \hbar$ is shown to be an even multiple of the angular frequency $Ω$ of the reference frame rotation when photon is reflected from the phase-conjugating mirror. We consider the one-arm phase-conjugating interferometer which contains $N$ Dove prisms or other angular momentum altering elements rotating in opposite directions. When such interferometer is placed in the rotating vehicle the $δω=4 (N+1/2) \ell \cdot Ω$ rotational Doppler shift appears and rotation of the helical interference pattern with angular frequenc…
Technological advances in femtosecond laser sources call for the development of increasingly refined characterization tools implying to enrich the existing panel of operable nonlinear interactions. The present paper describes a novel characterization method based on spectral-shearing interferometry which exploits the non-standard rotational Doppler effect for producing the frequency shear. This original approach, called DEER "Doppler Effect for Electric field Reconstruction", provides a spectral-shearing in the absence of frequency conversion and features multiple benefits as for instance the …
The rotational Doppler effect associated with light's orbital angular momentum (OAM) has been found as a powerful tool to detect rotating bodies. However, this method was only demonstrated experimentally on the laboratory scale under well controlled conditions so far. And its real potential lies at the practical applications in the field of remote sensing. We have established a 120-meter long free-space link between the rooftops of two buildings and show that both the rotation speed and the rotational symmetry of objects can be identified from the detected rotational Doppler frequency shift si…
There is a century-old tenet [1, 2] that the inverse Doppler frequency shift of light [3-13] is impossible in homogeneous systems with a positive refractive index. Here we break this long-held tenet by predicting a new kind of Doppler effect of light inside the Cherenkov cone. Ever since the classic work of Ginzburg and Frank, it has been known that a superlight (i.e., superluminal) normal Doppler effect [14-18] appears inside the Cherenkov cone when the velocity of the source v is larger than the phase velocity of light v_p. By further developing their theory we discover that an inverse Doppl…
Besides the well-known negative refraction, a negative refractive-index material can exhibit another two hallmark features, which are the inverse Doppler effect and backward Cherenkov radiation. The former is known as the motion-induced frequency shift that is contrary to the normal Doppler effect, and the latter refers to the Cherenkov radiation whose cone direction is opposite to the source's motion. Here we combine these two features and discuss the Doppler effect inside the backward Cherenkov cone. We reveal that the Doppler effect is not always inversed but can be normal in negative refra…
An inverse Doppler shift occurs in a photonic crystal (PC) bounded by a moving wall. The interpretation of this result has stirred some controversy. In this paper, we address the problem using a diagrammatic approach. This visual representation provides immediate insight into the phenomenon, and is a powerful tool for the design of time-varying PCs.
The dependence of macroscopic radiation pressure on the velocity of the object being pushed is commonly attributed to the Doppler effect. This need not be the case, and here we highlight velocity dependent radiation pressure terms that have their origins in the mixing of s and p polarizations brought about by the Lorentz transformation between the lab and the material rest frame, rather than in the corresponding transformation of frequency and wavevector. The theory we develop is relevant to the nano-optomechanics of moving bodies.
The Doppler effect of light was implemented by interference with a reference wave to infer linear velocities in early manifestations, and more recently lateral and angular velocities with scalar phase structured light. A consequence of the scalar wave approach is that it is impossible to deduce the motion direction and position of moving targets directly. Here we overcome this limitation with vectorially structured light, exhibiting spatially variant polarization, allowing both the position and velocity of a particle to be robustly determined by a new vectorial Doppler effect. We use this to s…
We analyze fringe formation within Michelson-like experiments as viewed by relativistic inertial observers. Our analysis differs from previous work because we include optical misalignment of the beamsplitter of the interferometer due to the anamorphic geometry of relativistic Lorentz contraction. We conclude that inertial frame equivalence of Michelson-like experiments provide verification of the transverse Doppler Effect and exclude any model incorporating the relativistic Lorentz contraction effect.
Although electromagnetic and acoustic waves profoundly differ in their nature, comparing their Doppler effects is instructive and reveals persistent conceptual traps. The principle of the Doppler effect was presented by Christian Doppler in 1842 long before the advent of relativity theory, but while the relativistic Doppler effect is now well established, its non-relativistic version retrospectively called classical, suffers from misleading intuitions such as: (1) there is no transverse classical Doppler effect; (2) the Galilean Doppler effect corresponds to the relativistic one without Lorent…
The Doppler effects for the reflected wave from a moving media are systemically analyzed in this paper. The theoretical formula for the Doppler shift in the left-handed material, which is described by Drude's dispersion model, is presented. This formula is examined by first-principles numerical experiments, which are in agreement with the theoretical results.
The diagram showing off-center nested spheres which is traditionally used to illustrate the Doppler effect, is misleading and its trigonometric analysis leads to errors concerning light, because electromagnetic Doppler and aberration effects conform to a wavefront surface that is not a sphere but an ellipsoid stretched along the trajectory of the source. The Cartesian and polar equations of the spherical and ellipsoidal wavefronts are compared here and related to their respective angular Doppler functions. As wavefront surfaces directly link inter-frame coordinate transformations to the aberra…
We derive the formula of the complex Doppler shift in a two-dimensional, dispersive metamaterial and we show that a moving, monochromatic radiation source generates multiple frequency modes. The role of the group velocity is stressed and the Doppler shifted radiation field exhibits features of the Cherenkov effect. The presented theory is also applicable to the case of a moving, nonoscillating charge and explains many peculiar characteristics of the Cherenkov radiation in lefthanded metamaterials such as the backward direction of power emission, the constant radiation angle and the lack of vel…
Avoiding laser frequency drifts is a key issue in many atomic physics experiments. Several techniques have been developed to lock the laser frequency using sub-Doppler dispersive atomic lineshapes as error signals in a feedback loop. We propose here a two-beam technique that uses non-linear properties of an atomic vapor around sharp resonances to produce sub-Doppler dispersive-like lineshapes that can be used as error signals. Our simple and robust technique has the advantage of not needing either modulation or magnetic fields.
The helicity-rotation coupling and its current empirical basis are examined. The modification of the Doppler effect due to the coupling of photon spin with the rotation of the observer is considered in detail in connection with its applications in the Doppler tracking of spacecraft. Further implications of this coupling and the possibility of searching for it in the intensity response of a rotating detector are briefly discussed.
We consider theoretically light scattering by a resonant layer that periodically moves in real space. At small frequencies of motion the scattered light spectrum reveals the frequency shift that is governed by the Doppler effect. At higher motion frequencies, the scattered light spectra acquire sidebands stemming from the Raman effect. We investigate the crossover between these two regimes and propose a realistic quantum well structure for its observation.
The Doppler shift is investigated in one-dimensional system with moving source. Theoretical findings are confirmed in numerical simulations of optical and acoustical waves propagation in simple metamaterial model, showing the reversed shift and the existence of multiple frequency modes. The properties of these waves are discussed. The effect of absorption on the phenomenon is outlined.
We model the effects of atomic thermal motion on the propagation of a light pulse in an electromagnetically induced transparency medium by introducing a set of effectively temperature-dependent parameters, including the Rabi frequency of the coupling field, optical density and relaxation rate of the ground state coherence, into the governing equations. The validity of this effective theory is verified by the close agreement between the theoretical results and the experimental data.
