Seminarium Teorii Względności i Grawitacji

According to the postulates of general relativity, test particleswithout internal structure propagate along geodesics. Similarly,according to geometric optics, high frequency wave packets propagatealong null geodesics. However, taking internal structure andbackreaction into account leads to modified dynamics, often referred toas spin-orbit coupling. An important manifestation of this phenomenon isthe Spin Hall Effect, which manifests as a spin-dependent transverseshift in the particle's trajectory. The spin Hall effect has beenexperimentally observed for electrons in materials with spin-orbitcoupling, as well as for light propagating in an inhomogenous medium. Itis also expected to occur for light propagating in a curved spacetime,in the vicinity of a compact object. Here I will review some of the maintheoretical approaches for the gravitational spin Hall effect, discusstheir predictions and limitations, and present a possible path towards amore general theoretical framework.