Related papers: Particle-like topologies of light in turbulent com…
Optical aberrations have been studied for centuries, placing fundamental limits on the achievable resolution in focusing and imaging. In the context of structured light, the spatial pattern is distorted in amplitude and phase, often arising…
Optical vortices are phase singularities nested in electromagnetic waves that constitute a fascinating source of phenomena in the physics of light and display deep similarities to their close relatives, quantized vortices in superfluids and…
Topology, which originated as a mathematical discipline, nowadays advances the understanding of many branches of science and technology from elementary particle physics and cosmology to condensed matter physics. In optics, the topology of…
Structured light is routinely used in free space optical communication channels, both classical and quantum, where information is encoded in the spatial structure of the mode for increased bandwidth. Unlike polarisation, the spatial…
We report the entanglement of topological features, namely, isolated, linked optical vortex loops in the light from spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). In three dimensions, optical vortices are lines of phase singularity and…
The degradation of classical and quantum structured light induced by complex media constitutes a critical barrier to its practical implementation in a range of applications, from communication and energy transport to imaging and sensing.…
Structured light offers a promising solution for the increasing data demands of modern optical networks, opening up new degrees of freedom that can be leveraged for greater channel capacity and more bits per photon. However, its…
Vortices are a hallmark of topologically nontrivial dynamics in nonlinear physics and arise in a huge variety of systems, from space and atmosphere to condensed matter and quantum gases. In optics, vortices manifest as phase twists of the…
We observe stable propagation of spatially localized single- and double-charge optical vortices in a self-focusing nonlinear medium. The vortices are created by self-trapping of partially incoherent light carrying a phase dislocation, and…
We experimentally explore the rich variety of nonlinear coherent structures arising in a turbulent flow of superfluid light past an obstacle in an all-optical configuration. The different hydrodynamic regimes observed are organised in a…
Quantum vortices are the analogue of classical vortices in optics, Bose-Einstein condensates, superfluids and superconductors, where they provide the elementary mode of rotation and orbital angular momentum. While they mediate important…
Particles suspended in a viscous fluid circle in optical vortices generated by holographic optical-tweezer techniques [Curtis J E and Grier D G 2003 Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 133901]. We model this system and show that hydrodynamic interactions…
Phase singularities are locations where light is twisted like a corkscrew, with positive or negative topological charge depending on the twisting direction. Among the multitude of singularities arising in random wave fields, some can be…
Topological singularities are ubiquitous in many areas of physics. Polarization singularities are locations at which an aspect of the polarization ellipse of light becomes undetermined or degenerate. At C points the orientation of the…
Topological defects, such as quantum vortices, determine the properties of quantum fluids. The study of their properties has been at the center of activity in solid state and BEC communities. On the other hand, the non-trivial behavior of…
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 concepts of topology provide a powerful tool to tailor the propagation and localization of light. While electromagnetic waves have only two polarization states, engineered degeneracies of photonic modes provide novel opportunities…
Vortices are topologically stable singularities at the center of a swirl of energy. Optical vortices are conventionally formed using diffractive optics or by bespoke optical elements. We report room temperature integrated lasers directly…
The dynamics of several light filaments (spatial optical solitons) propagating in an optically nonlinear and non-local random medium is investigated using the paradigms of the physics of complexity. Cluster formation is interpreted as a…
The infinite superpositions of random plane waves are known to be threaded with vortex line singularities which form complicated tangles and obey strict topological rules. We observe that within these structures a timelike axis appears to…