光的环形涡旋中手征对称性破缺的观测

Observation of Chiral Symmetry Breaking in Toroidal Vortices of Light.

作者信息

Chen Wei, Liu Yuan, Yu An-Zhuo, Cao Han, Hu Wei, Qiao Wen, Chen Lin-Sen, Lu Yan-Qing

机构信息

National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.

School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, 215006 Suzhou, China.

出版信息

Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Apr 12;132(15):153801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.153801.

DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.153801

PMID:38683010

Abstract

In this Letter, we explore the intersection of chirality and recently discovered toroidal spatiotemporal optical vortices (STOVs). We introduce "photonic conchs" theoretically as a new type of toroidal-like state exhibiting geometrical chirality, and experimentally observe these wave packets with controllable topological charges. Unlike toroidal STOVs, photonic conchs exhibit unique chirality-related dynamical evolution in free space and possess an orbital angular momentum correlated with all the dimensions of space-time. This research deepens our understanding of toroidal light states and potentially advances various fields by unveiling similar wave phenomena in a broader scope of physics systems, including acoustics and electronics.

摘要

在本信函中，我们探索了手性与最近发现的环形时空光学涡旋（STOVs）的交叉点。我们从理论上引入了“光子海螺”，作为一种展现几何手性的新型环形类状态，并通过实验观察到了具有可控拓扑电荷的这些波包。与环形STOVs不同，光子海螺在自由空间中表现出与手性相关的独特动力学演化，并且拥有与时空所有维度相关的轨道角动量。这项研究加深了我们对环形光状态的理解，并有可能通过揭示包括声学和电子学在内的更广泛物理系统中的类似波现象，推动各个领域的发展。