Using Berry's phase for position-sensitive acoustical and stress detection

Berry showed that a quantum system, upon an excursion around a closed path in phase space, can lead to a geometric phase. The polarization state of light in a fiber is a classical analog that is called the Pancharantnam phase. While most experiments have focused on esoteric issues, I show that, in theory, Berry's phase (or Pancharantnam's phase) can be used to make a position-sensitive acoustical or stress sensor. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.