Geometrodynamics of spinning light

The semiclassical evolution of spinning particles has recently been re-examined in condensed matter physics, high-energy physics, and optics, resulting in the prediction of the intrinsic spin Hall effect associated with the Berry phase. A fundamental origin of this effect is related to the spin–orbit interaction and topological monopoles. Here, we report a unified theory and a direct observation of two mutual phenomena: a spin-dependent deflection (the spin Hall effect) of photons and the precession of the Stokes vector along the coiled ray trajectory of classical geometrical optics. Our measurements are in perfect agreement with theoretical predictions, thereby verifying the dynamical action of the topological Berry-phase monopole in the evolution of light. These results may have promising applications in nano-optics and can be immediately extrapolated to the evolution of massless particles in a variety of physical systems. The spin Hall effect, an interaction between particles because of their intrinsic spin, is a central tenet in the field of spintronics. The direct observation of an optical equivalent of the spin Hall effect is now reported.