Knotted topologies in the polarization state of bichromatic light

Emilio Pisanty

doi:10.1117/12.2596834

1 August 2021 Knotted topologies in the polarization state of bichromatic light

Emilio Pisanty

Proceedings Volume 11818, Laser Beam Shaping XXI; 1181809 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2596834
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2021, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The fundamental polarization singularities of light are generally symmetric under coordinated rotations: that is, transformations which rotate the spatial dependence of the fields by an angle θ and the field polarization by a fraction of that angle, as generated by 'mixed' angular momenta of the form L + S. Generically, the coordination parameter has been thought to be restricted to integer or half-integer values. In this work we show that this constraint is an artifact of the restriction to monochromatic elds, and that a wider variety of optical singularities is available when more than one frequency is involved. We show that these new optical singularities present novel field topologies, isomorphic to torus knots, and we show how they can be characterized both analytically and experimentally. Moreover, the generator for the symmetry group of these singularities, whose algebraic structure is deeply related to the torus-knot topology of the beams, is conserved in nonlinear optical interactions.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Emilio Pisanty "Knotted topologies in the polarization state of bichromatic light", Proc. SPIE 11818, Laser Beam Shaping XXI, 1181809 (1 August 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2596834

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available