An approach of Spin Hall Effect of light

It has been recently found that the equations of motion of several semiclassical systems must take into account anomalous velocity term arising from Berry phase contributions. Those terms are for instance responsible for the spin Hall effect in semiconductors or the gravitational birefringence of photons propagating in a static gravitational field. Intensive ongoing research on this subject seems to indicate that a broad class of quantum systems might have their dynamics affected by Berry phase terms. In this article we discuss some aspects of this phenomenon with a focus on Dirac particles and photons.