The Localization of Angular Momentum in Optical Waves Propagating through Turbulence

This is the first in a series of papers demonstrating that photons with orbital angular momentum can be created in optical waves propagating through distributed turbulence. The scope of this first paper is much narrower. Here, we demonstrate that atmospheric turbulence imparts non-trivial angular momentum to beams and that this non-trivial angular momentum is highly localized. Furthermore, creation of this angular momentum is a normal part of propagation through atmospheric turbulence. © 2011 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (010.1300) Atmospheric propagation; (010.1330) Atmospheric turbulence; (010.1285) Atmospheric correction; (010.7350) Wavefront sensing; (010.1080) Adaptive optics. References and links 1. L. Allen, M. W. Beijersbergen, R. J. C. Spreeuw, and J. P. Woerdman, “Orbital angular momentum of light and the transformation of laguerre-gaussian laser modes,” Physical Review A 45, 8185–8189 (1992). 2. J. D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics (John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA, 1975), 2nd ed. 3. R. J. Sasiela, Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in Turbulence: Evaluation and Application of Mellin Transforms (SPIE Press, Bellingham, Wa, USA, 2007), 2nd ed. 4. D. J. Sanchez and D. W. Oesch, “Orbital angular momentum in optical waves propagating through distributed atmospheric turbulence,” Optics Express (2011). Submitted for publication. 5. I. I. Gikhman and A. V. Skorokhod, Introduction to the Theory of Random Processes (Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola, New York, USA, 1969), 1st ed. An english translation of the original work. 6. L. C. Andrews and R. L. Phillips, Laser Beam Propagation through Random Media (SPIE Optical Engineering Press, Bellingham, WA, USA, 1998), 2nd ed. 7. D. L. Fried, “Probability of getting a lucky short-exposure image through turbulence,” Journal the Optical Society of America 40, 1651–1658 (1977).