Related papers: Rotating light, OAM paradox and relativistic compl…
We investigate in detail the focusing of a circularly polarized Laguerre-Gaussian laser beam ($\hbar \ell$ orbital angular momentum per photon; $\sigma=1/-1$ for left/right-handed polarization) by a high numerical aperture objective. The…
A light beam with phase singularity (PS) characterized with azimuthally symmetric angular positions (APs) can be constructed by the rotationally symmetric superposition of n (n is N) fractional vortex light beams with identical charges. The…
The orbital angular momentum of light (OAM) provides a promising approach for the implementation of multidimensional states (qudits) for quantum information purposes. In order to characterize the degradation undergone by the information…
We study the interaction of a light beams carrying angular momentum with a single, trapped and well localized ion. We provide a detailed calculation of selection rules and excitation probabilities for quadrupole transitions. The results…
We demonstrate that the orbital angular momentum flux density of a paraxial light beam can change on propagation in free space. These changes are entirely due to the spatial coherence state of the source, and the effect is analogous to…
It is shown that after reflection from a lossy medium the $s$- or $p$-polarized paraxial light beam carrying the orbital angular momentum suffers the 2D shift of the beam's centre of gravity relative the geometric optic axis. The mutually…
The problem of light waves interaction with charged particles becomes more and more complex starting with the case of plane waves, where the analytical solution is well known, to more natural, though more complicated situations which…
We review Heisenberg's uncertainty principle for the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light. By taking into account the largest and smallest scales present in nature, such as the the Hubble radius and the Planck length, we have found that…
We demonstrate a novel detection scheme for the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light using circular plasmonic lens. Owing to a division-of-amplitude interference phenomenon between the surface plasmon waves and directly transmitted…
We introduce and experimentally demonstrate a method for measuring at the same time the mean and the variance of the photonic orbital angular momentum (OAM) distribution in any paraxial optical field, without passing through the acquisition…
Recent reports on the intriguing features of vector vortex bearing beams are analyzed using geometric phases in optics. It is argued that the spin redirection phase induced circular birefringence is the origin of topological phase…
The motion of spinning relativistic particles in external electromagnetic and gravitational fields is considered. Covariant equations for this motion are demonstrated to possess pathological solutions, when treated nonperturbatively in…
We derive the semiclassical equation of motion for the wave-packet of light taking into account the Berry curvature in the momentum space. This equation naturally describes the interplay between the orbital and spin angular momenta, i.e.,…
We describe a novel approach for generating light beams that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) by means of total internal reflection in an isotropic medium. A continuous space-varying cylindrically symmetric reflector, in the form of…
Structured light fields exploit spin and orbital angular momentum for precision manipulation, advanced imaging, and high-capacity communication. Orbital angular momentum coherent state beams interpolate between Hermite- and…
In addition to energy, light carries linear and angular momentum. These are key quantities in rapidly developing optics research and in technologies focusing on light induced forces and torques on materials. Spin angular momentum (SAM)…
Vortices are whirling disturbances commonly found in nature ranging from tremendously small scales in Bose-Einstein condensates to cosmologically colossal scales in spiral galaxies. An optical vortex, generally associated with a spiral…
Applications of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light range from the next generation of optical communication systems to optical imaging and optical manipulation of particles. Here we propose a micron-sized semiconductor source which…
We consider propagation of a paraxial beam carrying the spin angular momentum (polarization) and intrinsic orbital angular momentum (IOAM) in a smoothly inhomogeneous isotropic medium. It is shown that the presence of IOAM can dramatically…
Stated simply the paradox is as follows: it is clear that the orbital angular momentum of a light beam in its direction of propagation is an intrinsic quantity, and therefore has the same value everywhere in the beam. How then can a…