Correlation-induced orbital angular momentum changes
Yongtao Zhang, Olga Korotkova, Yangjian Cai, Greg Gbur
Abstract
It has long been known that partial coherence of a light source can lead to a change of properties such as the intensity, spectrum, or the degree of polarization of a beam during propagation in free space. In this paper, the authors extend this effect to beams with optical angular momentum, and show that one can use source correlations to significantly change the optical angular momentum flux density of a beam on propagation through free space.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsAngular momentumCoherence (philosophical gambling strategy)Polarization (electrochemistry)Orbital angular momentum of lightAngular momentum of lightFree spaceDegree of coherenceLight beamTotal angular momentum quantum numberOpticsAngular momentum couplingQuantum electrodynamicsBeam (structure)Computational physicsClassical mechanicsQuantum mechanicsChemistryPhysical chemistryOrbital Angular Momentum in OpticsOptical Polarization and EllipsometryDigital Holography and Microscopy