A simple model for fibre optics: planar dielectric waveguides in rotation

In planar dielectric waveguides, there is only one type of propagated ray: the one that crosses the waveguide axis after each total internal reflection. According to the model of geometrical optics, there are two types of guided ray in fibre optics: meridional and skew. Each one is formulated by a suitable mathematical treatment. In this work, we demonstrate that the complex mathematical treatment for the skew rays can be avoided by considering a planar waveguide (with the same refractive index profile as the fibre and thickness equal to its diameter) that rotates around the direction of the axis with angular velocity ω. A section of this fibre is inscribed in the hypothetical slab. This model has been successfully introduced to students of engineering and physics.