Optical helicity of interfering waves

DOI10.1080/09500340.2013.829874zbMATH Open1356.78062arXiv1308.1308OpenAlexW1974666267MaRDI QIDQ2962769FDOQ2962769

Authors: Robert P. Cameron, Stephen M. Barnett, Alison M. Yao 

Publication date: 17 February 2017

Published in: Journal of Modern Optics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Helicity is a property of light which is familiar from particle physics but less well-known in optics. In this paper we recall the explicit form taken by the helicity of light within classical electromagnetic theory and reflect upon some of its remarkable characteristics. The helicity of light is related to, but is distinct from, the spin of light. To emphasise this fact, we draw a simple analogy between the helicity of light and electric charge and between the spin of light and electric current. We illustrate this and other observations by examining various superpositions of plane waves explicitly.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1308

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Waves and radiation in optics and electromagnetic theory (78A40)

Cites Work

• A THEOREM ON FORCE-FREE MAGNETIC FIELDS
• Rotation of electromagnetic fields and the nature of optical angular momentum
• Sur le moment d'impulsion d'une onde électromagnétique
• Notes on the theory of radiation
• Duality rotation as a Lie–Bäcklund transformation

Cited In (9)

• Optical acceleration cancellation: a viable interception strategy?
• Helicity and spin of linearly polarized Hermite-Gaussian modes
• Gauge invariance of the helicity continuity equation
• Measurement of the helicity of photon pairs using the optical Berry phase
• Scattering of plane-wave and twisted photons by helical media
• Photon helicity and quantum anomalies in curved spacetimes
• One more time on the helicity decomposition of spin and orbital optical currents
• Chirality and the angular momentum of light
• Rotational waves in an optical system with diffraction and rotation of spatial arguments

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