A mechanical device to study geometric phases and curvatures

Abstract

A simple mechanical device is introduced that can be used to illustrate the parallel transport of a vector along a curved surface and the geometric phase shift that occurs when a vector is carried along a loop on a curved surface. Its connection with the Foucault pendulum and Berry phases is discussed. The experimental results are in close agreement with the theoretical expectations. The experiment is inexpensive and conceptually easy to understand and perform.