Open AccessLight's twist
Author(s) -
Miles J. Padgett
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society a mathematical physical and engineering sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1471-2946
pISSN - 1364-5021
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.2014.0633
Subject(s) - angular momentum , twist , physics , eddy , vortex , encode , classical mechanics , theoretical physics , optics , mechanics , turbulence , geometry , mathematics , chemistry , gene , biochemistry
That light travels in straight lines is a statement of the obvious. However, the energy and momentum flow within light beams can twist to form vortices such as eddies in a stream. These twists carry angular momentum, which can make microscopic objects spin, be used to encode extra information in communication systems, enable the design of novel imaging systems and allow new tests of quantum mechanics.
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