Phase-Shift Analysis of the Translation of Totally Reflected Beams

The longitudinal (Goos-H\"anchen) and transverse displacements of totally reflected beams are studied using phase shifts, without any consideration of the (unobservable) energy flux in the vacuum. The longitudinal displacement is trivially derived and exhibits the observed splitting. The macroscopic transverse displacement is more subtle, depending on the fact that the multiple reflections in the experiment are between nonparallel surfaces. The observed shift is not a simple effect arising from the reflection at a single surface but depends on the relative orientation of the two surfaces.