A non-separability measure for spatially disjoint vectorial fields

Aiello A, Hu XB, Rodriguez-Fajardo V, Forbes A, Hernandez-Aranda R, Perez-Garcia B, Rosales-Guzman C (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

New Journal of Physics Institute of Physics: Open Access Journals / Institute of Physics (IoP) and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

Book Volume: 24

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ac77ab

Abstract

Vectorial forms of structured light that are non-separable in their spatial and polarisation degrees of freedom have become topical of late, with an extensive toolkit for their creation and control. In contrast, the toolkit for quantifying their non-separability, the inhomogeneity of the polarisation structure, is less developed and in some cases fails altogether. To overcome this, here we introduce a new measure for vectorial light, which we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally. We consider the general case where the local polarisation homogeneity can vary spatially across the field, from scalar to vector, a condition that can arise naturally if the composite scalar fields are path separable during propagation, leading to spatially disjoint vectorial light. We show how the new measure correctly accounts for the local path-like separability of the individual scalar beams, which can have varying degrees of disjointness, even though the global vectorial field remains intact. Our work attempts to address a pressing issue in the analysis of such complex light fields, and raises important questions on spatial coherence in the context of vectorially polarised light.

Authors with CRIS profile

Andrea Aiello

Additional Organisation(s)

Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio 306/1: Quantenkooperativität von Licht und Materie - QuCoLiMa

Involved external institutions

Zhejiang Sci-tech University / 浙江理工大学; CN China (CN) Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) MX Mexico (MX) University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) ZA South Africa (ZA) Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica, A.C. (CIO) MX Mexico (MX) Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Aiello, A., Hu, X.-B., Rodriguez-Fajardo, V., Forbes, A., Hernandez-Aranda, R., Perez-Garcia, B., & Rosales-Guzman, C. (2022). A non-separability measure for spatially disjoint vectorial fields. New Journal of Physics, 24(6). https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac77ab

MLA:

Aiello, Andrea, et al. "A non-separability measure for spatially disjoint vectorial fields." New Journal of Physics 24.6 (2022).

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