Angular Momentum Fluctuations in the Phonon Vacuum of Symmetric Crystals

Abstract: Although time-reversal and inversion symmetry constrain the angular momentum of each phonon mode to vanish, we show that the vacuum state of crystals with such symmetries can nevertheless exhibit finite angular momentum fluctuations. These fluctuations arise from quantum coherence between nondegenerate, orthogonally polarized modes and are encoded in the off-diagonal components of the angular momentum operator. Their origin lies in the noncommutativity between the phonon Hamiltonian and angular momentum, which enables time-dependent rotational dynamics even in symmetric vacua. We provide intuitive insight into the coherence underlying this phenomenon by drawing an analogy with the beating between linearly polarized classical waves. Finally, we show that these angular momentum fluctuations produce distinct spectral signatures that can, in principle, be probed via established techniques sensitive to the polarization content and symmetry of lattice excitations, opening an uncharted avenue for accessing and leveraging rotational vacuum correlations in crystalline systems.