Interaction of waves with a birefringent medium moving with acceleration

Recent experiments demonstrated that the energy of a neutron traversing an accelerated sample of a refractive medium changes. Later, it was realized that such an accelerated-medium effect (AME) is quite a general phenomenon characteristic of waves and particles of different nature. This paper discusses some special features of the effect for a birefringent medium. In this case, AME shows quite new features. In neutron optics, where birefringence is due to the spin dependence of the refractive index, AME results in a nonstationary state with a precessing spin. In the case of the propagation of a two-flavor neutrino through an accelerated layer of matter, AME affects substantially the ensuing evolution of a neutrino flavor state as it propagates through a free space.