FARADAY-ROTATION AND COMPLEX-VALUED TRAVERSAL TIME FOR CLASSICAL LIGHT WAVES

We introduce a magnetic clock approach to measure the traversal and reflection times of an electromagnetic wave through a slab, when multiple reflections are taken into account. The traversal time is a complex quantity whose real component is proportional to the Faraday rotation and whose imaginary component is proportional to the degree of ellipticity. We conclude that the complex traversal time found for an electron by several different methods is not a consequence of the quantum nature of the particle, but due to the wavelike character of the entity involved.