Polarization singularities: Topological and dynamical aspects

Abstract

The review describes general principles and characteristics of inhomogeneously polarized paraxial optical fields and, especially, the polarization singularities (PSs). Main parameters of the optical vector waves are discussed, with the emphasis on the physical relevance and topological distinctiveness of the PSs. Special features of the stochastic vector fields are considered in the context of the PSs’ genericity and structural stability. A detailed attention is paid to interrelations between the PSs and the phase singularities of scalar fields formed by the orthogonal polarization projections of the total field, and their derivatives (complex Stokes fields, phase-difference fields, etc.). On this base, the practical approaches are discussed for the experimental PS identification and characterization. A particular examination of the internal energy flows associated with the PSs, and accompanying distributions of the optical momentum and angular momentum, reveals meaningful dynamical features of PSs and supplies additional physically transparent and informative means for their studies and characterization.

Formation of a polychromatic edge dislocation using the technology of computer generated holograms

“…It is shown at 2,11 that the edge dislocation breaks up into a system of closely spaced vortices (vortex chain), the signs of the charges of which alternate similarly to situation presented in Fig. 2.…”

Modeling of the high-resolution optical-coherence diagnostics of bi-refringent biological tissues

“…The useful information is contained in the object wave E 2 (10). Generally, it is elliptically polarized (see Figure 5), and the SOP can be characterized by the polarization ellipse morphology [34, 38,39]. The morphology parameters can be recovered in the scheme of Figure 2 which enables measurement of the amplitudes and relative phases of the x-and y-components, E 2x and E 2y , from the band B2 interference patterns (Figures 3, 4).…”

“…Another possible way involves the Stokes parameters [34, 38,39]. Based on the Jones vector (10), the Stokes parameters can be presented in the form 1 Here and in the following text we frequently demonstrate the process of recovering the sample characteristics from the graphical information which, in turn, was calculated based on the preliminary assigned parameters.…”

“…and the known relation connecting the Stokes parameter S 3 with the major and minor polarization-ellipse semi-axes [38] a m and a n (see Figure 5) can be employed:…”

Enhancing the Spin Hall Effect of Cylindrically Polarized Beams

“…At first, we study the superposition of general-shape cylindrically and linearly polarized beams. Thus, the first constituent beam can have radial, azimuthal, saddle [ 29 ], or another cylindrical polarization [ 30 ]. The second beam should have linear polarization in an arbitrary direction, and both beams can have an arbitrary rotationally-symmetric shape, i.e., they can be Laguerre-Gaussian [ 31 ], Bessel-Gaussian [ 32 ], Hypergeometric-Gaussian beams [ 33 ], or some more exotic beams [ 34 ] with rotational symmetry.…”