Abstract

The instantaneous electric vector in a random three-dimensional optical field is shown to generate twisted ribbon carousels that spin about their axes. The ribbons can be right or left handed and can unwind and rewind in time, changing their handedness during an optical cycle. Analytical formulas describing this behavior are presented.

© 2020 Optical Society of America

Transient electromagnetic singularities in random three-dimensional optical fields

Isaac Freund
Opt. Lett. 46(15) 3789-3792 (2021)

Polarization Möbius strips on elliptical paths in three-dimensional optical fields

Isaac Freund
Opt. Lett. 45(12) 3333-3336 (2020)

Ultrafast spinning twisted ribbons of confined electric fields

Thomas Bauer, Svetlana N. Khonina, Ilya Golub, Gerd Leuchs, and Peter Banzer
Optica 7(10) 1228-1231 (2020)

Optical Möbius strips and twisted ribbon cloaks

Isaac Freund
Opt. Lett. 39(4) 727-730 (2014)

Optical Möbius strips, twisted ribbons, and the index theorem

Isaac Freund
Opt. Lett. 36(23) 4506-4508 (2011)