Related papers: Singular knot bundle in light
The fundamental polarization singularities of monochromatic light are normally associated with invariance under coordinated rotations: symmetry operations that rotate the spatial dependence of an electromagnetic field by an angle $\theta$…
In this paper we show that it is possible to structure the longitudinal polarization component of light. We illustrate our approach by demonstrating linked and knotted longitudinal vortex lines acquired upon non-paraxially propagating a…
The edge diffraction of a homogeneously polarized light beam is studied theoretically based on the paraxial optics and Fresnel-Kirchhoff approximation, and the dependence of the diffracted beam pattern of the incident beam polarization is…
We observe fine structure in the resonance spectra of optical microcavities. We identify the polarization-resolved modes in the spectrum and find that resonance frequencies split in accordance with the theoretical prediction. The observed…
Departure from idealised plane waves gives rise to intricate geometric structures in wave fields. One such structure is the polarisation singularity, which emerges when multiple monochromatic waves interfere (such as would be the case for…
The impact of particle-vibration coupling and polarization effects due to deformation and time-odd mean fields on single-particle spectra is studied systematically in doubly magic nuclei from low mass $^{56}$Ni up to superheavy ones.…
Tangles of string typically become knotted, from macroscopic twine down to long-chain macromolecules such as DNA. Here we demonstrate that knotting also occurs in quantum wavefunctions, where the tangled filaments are vortices (nodal…
Light beams having a vectorial field structure - or polarization - that varies over the transverse profile and a central optical singularity are called vector-vortex (VV) beams and may exhibit specific properties, such as focusing into…
Optical singularities manifesting at the center of vector vortex beams are unstable, since their topological charge is higher than the lowest value permitted by Maxwell's equations. Inspired by conceptually similar phenomena occurring in…
Recently, it was shown that a non-zero transverse angular momentum manifests itself in a polarization dependent intensity shift of the barycenter of a paraxial light beam [A. Aiello et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 100401 (2009)]. The…
The spin-orbit interaction in a focused-reflected beam of light results in spatially non-uniform polarization in the beam cross-section due to the superposition of orthogonal field components and polarization-dependent interface reflection…
We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally coherence-induced polarization changes in generic and higher-order vector vortex beams with polarization singularity. The prominent depolarization on decreasing transverse correlation-width in…
The simple reflection of a light beam of finite transverse extent from a homogenous interface gives rise to a surprisingly large number of subtle shifts and deflections which can be seen as diffractive corrections to the laws of geometrical…
The well-known effects of the spin-orbit interaction of light are manifestations of pair mutual influence of the three types of the angular momentum of light, namely, the spin angular momentum, the extrinsic orbital angular momentum and the…
Theory of spin noise in low dimensional systems and bulk semiconductors is reviewed. Spin noise is usually detected by optical means, continuously measuring the rotation angle of the polarization plane of the probe beam passing through the…
Vector optical vortices exhibit complex polarisation patterns due to the interplay between spin and orbital angular momenta. Here we demonstrate, both analytically and with simulations, that certain polarisation features of optical vortex…
The curves of zero intensity of a complex optical field can form knots and links: optical vortex knots. Both theoretical constructions and experiments have so far been restricted to the very small families of torus knots or lemniscate…
The polarization of light can exhibit unusual features when singular optical beams are involved. In 3-dimensional polarized random media the polarization orientation around singularities describe 1/2 or 3/2 M\"obius strips. It has been…
A single paraxial beam reflection at a plane dielectric interface, configured appropriately, can lead to the formation of a polarization singularity in the inhomogeneously polarized output beam-field for any central angle of incidence. In…
The creation and detection of atomic polarization is examined theoretically, through the study of basic optical-pumping mechanisms and absorption and fluorescence measurements, and the dependence of these processes on the size of ground-…