Lecturer: Prof. Curtis R. Menyuk
Affiliation: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Abstract:
The fluctuation-dissipation theorem,
which was formulated by Nyquist in
1928 to explain Johnson noise, is a
fundamental result from statistical
physics that has implications throughout
electrical and chemical engineering. Its
consequences are sometimes
surprising. One consequence that is not
well known is that the intrinsic
birefringence of any homogeneous,
isotropic medium is linear — as
opposed to circular or elliptical — as
long as the medium has no intrinsic
helicity and is not immersed in a
magnetic field. In this presentation,
birefringence in optical fibers is
reviewed. It is shown that the nonlinear
propagation in the fiber allows us to infer
properties of the linear (as opposed to
nonlinear) propagation in the fiber. In
particular, we infer that the intrinsic
birefringence of the fiber is linear (as
opposed to elliptical or circular). The
connection of this result to the
fluctuation-dissipation theorem is
described.