Transverse angular momentum of photons

Aiello A, Marquardt C, Leuchs G (2010)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2010

Journal

Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics American Physical Society

Book Volume: 81

Article Number: 053838

Journal Issue: 5

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.053838

Abstract

We develop the quantum theory of transverse angular momentum of light beams. The theory applies to paraxial and quasiparaxial photon beams in vacuum and reproduces the known results for classical beams when applied to coherent states of the field. Both the Poynting vector, alias the linear momentum, and the angular-momentum quantum operators of a light beam are calculated including contributions from first-order transverse derivatives. This permits a correct description of the energy flow in the beam and the natural emergence of both the spin and the angular momentum of the photons. We show that for collimated beams of light, orbital angular-momentum operators do not satisfy the standard commutation rules. Finally, we discuss the application of our theory to some concrete cases. © 2010 The American Physical Society.

Authors with CRIS profile

Andrea Aiello
Christoph Marquardt Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik (Optik) Gerhard Leuchs Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik (Optik)

Involved external institutions

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., Marquardt, C., & Leuchs, G. (2010). Transverse angular momentum of photons. Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, 81(5). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.81.053838

MLA:

Aiello, Andrea, Christoph Marquardt, and Gerd Leuchs. "Transverse angular momentum of photons." Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics 81.5 (2010).

BibTeX: Download