The Pegg-Barnett phase operator and the discrete Fourier transform

In quantum mechanics the position and momentum operators are related to each other via the Fourier transform. In the same way, here we show that the so-called Pegg-Barnett phase operator can be obtained by the application of the discrete Fourier transform to the number operators defined in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. Furthermore, we show that the structure of the London-Susskind-Glogower phase operator, whose natural logarithm gives rise to the Pegg-Barnett phase operator, is contained in the Hamiltonian of circular waveguide arrays. Our results may find applications in the development of new finite-dimensional photonic systems with interesting phase-dependent properties.