Work

Spatiotemporal optical vortex polariton

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We confirm the existence of a new bulk medium quasiparticle with transverse orbital angular momentum (tOAM) and elucidate its physical origin. The tOAM structure is driven by torques induced by the ponderomotive force of the light in the medium, originating from the magnetic Lorentz force, even for weak light fields. There are two contributions to the material tOAM: One part depends on the pulse spatial shape change as it passes through an interface and the other part depends on medium dispersion. The results, from first principles particle-in-cell simulations of a simple plasma, are in excellent agreement with our theory for general dielectric media [S. W. Hancock , ]. For plasma, there is agreement up to near-critical densities and near-relativistic field strengths.

Source: Physical Review Research

DOI: 10.1103/1wpb-t3pn

Authors: M. S. Le, S. W. Hancock, N. Tripathi, H. M. Milchberg

Institution: University of Maryland, College Park

Language: English

Topic: Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,625

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, Air Force Office of Scientific Research