A simple mathematical expression based on rational maps to describe all optical paraxial skyrmion known to date, including Néel‐type and Bloch‐type skyrmions, bimerons, and anti‐skyrmions, is introduced. This expression is derived solely from topological considerations and outlines the rules that fully polarized paraxial light fields must obey to qualify as optical skyrmions. It is shown that rational maps can be implemented experimentally by superposing a pair of orthogonally polarized Laguerre–Gaussian modes. Novel optical skyrmion fields, called multi‐skyrmions, are obtained upon generalizing the proposed expression, laying the foundation for the exploration of skyrmion nucleation and annihilation mechanisms in optics.
The skyrmion number of paraxial optical skyrmions can be defined solely via their polarization singularities and associated winding numbers, using a mathematical derivation that exploits Stokes's theorem. It is demonstrated that this definition provides a robust way to extract the skyrmion number from experimental data, as illustrated for a variety of optical (Néel‐type) skyrmions and bimerons and multi‐skyrmions. This method generates not only an increase in accuracy, but also provides an intuitive geometrical approach to understanding the topology of such quasi‐particles of light and their robustness against smooth transformations.
Vector vortex beams, featuring independent spatial modes in orthogonal polarization components, offer an increase in information density for emerging applications in both classical and quantum communication technology. Recent advances in optical instrumentation have led to the ability of generating and manipulating such beams. Their tomography is generally accomplished by projection measurements to identify polarization as well as spatial modes. In this paper we demonstrate spatially resolved generalized measurements of arbitrary vector vortex beams. We perform positive operator valued measurements (POVMs) in an interferometric setup that characterizes the vector light mode in a single-shot. This offers superior data acquisition speed compared to conventional Stokes tomography techniques, with potential benefits for communication protocols as well as dynamic polarization microscopy of materials.
We numerically and experimentally evidence photonic orbit-orbit interactions in freely propagating asymmetrical beams carrying orbital angular momentum. A Fresnel biprism is used to carry out the wavefront division of an optical vortex beam, generating two complementary asymmetrical beams. The optical orbital Hall effect is presented in the form of angular deviations from the beam's geometrical expectation. We also observe the rotation of the field transverse profile near the nominal propagation axis upon propagation, which direction depends on orbital momentum currents.
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