Photonic toroidal vortex
Photonic toroidal vortex is a three-dimensional structured light field in which optical phase singularities form a closed loop, producing a torus-shaped intensity distribution.
Description
In contrast to a conventional optical vortex, a photonic toroidal vortex carries transverse orbital angular momentum (OAM). Toroidal vortices are whirling disturbances rotating about a ring-shaped core while advancing in the direction normal to the ring orifice.
History
The scientific investigation of vortex rings dates to 1867 when Lord Kelvin proposed the vortex atom model.[1] The optical analogue was reported experimentally in 2022.[1]
A related realization, the vector toroidal pulse or flying doughnut, was reported in the same issue.[2] It builds on earlier work on spatiotemporal optical vortices with transverse OAM.[3]
Generation
The original method exploits conformal mapping to reshape a spatiotemporal vortex tube into a toroidal vortex.[1] The field is an approximate solution that can propagate without distortion in a uniform medium with anomalous group velocity dispersion.
Dynamics
Photonic toroidal vortices constitute a family of three-dimensional, spacetime nonseparable structured light fields carrying transverse orbital angular momentum.[4] Their dynamics are mediated by both transverse and longitudinal OAM. The swirling flow destabilizes the toroidal structure under dispersion and induces topological transformations of vortex lines, characterized by annihilation and subsequent reformation in vacuum.[4]
Applications
Applications include optical manipulation, topological photonics, and quantum information.[4]
Related proposals
A photonic toroidal vortex model of the hydrogen atom fine structure has been proposed using a helical string (Sp-1) rotating around a guide tube (Sp-2) whose axis rotates in a toroid (Sp-3).[5] The author reports that the calculated fine-structure intervals agree with the NIST reference data to better than one part in 1010.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wan, C., Cao, Q., Chen, J., Chong, A. and Zhan, Q., Toroidal vortices of light, Nature Photonics 16, 519–522 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-022-01013-y
- ↑ Zdagkas, A., Shen, Y., Papasimakis, N. and Zheludev, N. I., Observation of toroidal pulses of light, Nature Photonics 16, 523–528 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-022-01015-9
- ↑ Chong, A., Wan, C., Chen, J. and Zhan, Q., Generation of spatiotemporal optical vortices with controllable transverse orbital angular momentum, Nature Photonics 14, 350–354 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-020-0587-z
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Liu, X., Zhang, N., Cao, Q., Liu, J., Liang, C., Zhan, Q. and Cai, Y., Dynamics of photonic toroidal vortices mediated by orbital angular momenta, Science Advances 11, eadz0843 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz0843
- ↑ Clarke, B. R., A photonic toroidal vortex model of the hydrogen atom, Quantum Studies: Mathematics and Foundations 12, 19 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40509-025-00364-9
Category:Optics Category:Topology
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