Ångström Lecture 2018: Twisted Light and Radio Waves
- Date: –16:30
- Location: Ångströmlaboratoriet, Lägerhyddsvägen 1 The Siegbahn Hall
- Lecturer: Fabrizio Tamburini, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Organiser: Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Contact person: Erik B Karlsson
- Seminarium
The orbital angular momentum of the electromagnetic field has been discussed and studied for more than a century starting from Maxwell, Poynting and Abraham and associated to electromagnetic vorticity and twisted light. However, it is only during the past few decades that it has been realised that this property of light has the capability to carry more information than commonly believed.
Twisted light, and more in general structured electromagnetic waves, now find an increasing number of applications in various fields, including laser physics, photonics, astronomy, astrophysics and general relativity, with fascinating applications in quantum and classical information transfer and communications.
First I will introduce the main theoretical aspects underlying the principles of twisted light and optical vorticity based on the mathematical invariants and conserved quantities of Maxwell's equations. Then selected scientific examples will be given in order to illustrate the properties of twisted light and their applications.
Finally, new paradigms for information transfer will be given, describing their utilisation in astronomy, fundamental physics, and real-world applications when twisted light is used to improve the data transfer rate and the robustness of channel multiplexing techniques of modern telecommunications.
In connection with the Ångström lecture celebrating 20 years a special publication in Swedish has been produced and can be downloaded here.