Optical activity — UPSC Physics Optional CSE 2024 Paper I

What do you understand by optical activity? A linearly polarized light is propagating along the optic axis of a quartz crystal of thickness 0.2\text{ cm}. If the difference in the refractive indices corresponding to right circularly polarized and left circularly polarized beams is 7 \times 10^{-5} and the wavelength of the light is 0.5\text{ }\mu\text{m}, calculate the angle of polarization.