Observation of a non-adiabatic geometric phase for elastic waves

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Boulanger, Jérémie, Nicolas Le Bihan, Catheline, Stefan, Rossetto, Vincent
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 02.02.2012
• Subjects: Adiabatic flow; Elastic waves; Physics - Classical Physics; Physics - Optics; Quantum mechanics
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1103.4506

We report the experimental observation of a geometric phase for elastic waves in a waveguide with helical shape. The setup reproduces the experiment by Tomita and Chiao [A. Tomita, R.Y. Chiao, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57 (1986) 937-940, 2471] that showed first evidence of a Berry phase, a geometric phase for adiabatic time evolution, in optics. Experimental evidence of a non-adiabatic geometric phase has been reported in quantum mechanics. We have performed an experiment to observe the polarization transport of classical elastic waves. In a waveguide, these waves are polarized and dispersive. Whereas the wavelength is of the same order of magnitude as the helix's radius, no frequency dependent correction is necessary to account for the theoretical prediction. This shows that in this regime, the geometric phase results directly from geometry and not from a correction to an adiabatic phase.