Photon Orbital Angular Momentum and Mass in a Plasma Vortex

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a plasma vortex imparts orbital angular momentum to photons, leading to an additional mass component that influences the overall photon mass acquired via the Anderson-Higgs mechanism.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of photon mass in plasma vortices, highlighting the role of orbital angular momentum in modifying the Proca photon mass.

Findings

Photon acquires additional mass from orbital angular momentum.

Orbital angular momentum reduces the conventional Proca photon mass.

Analysis applies Proca-Maxwell equations to structured plasma environments.

Abstract

We analyse the Anderson-Higgs mechanism of photon mass acquisition in a plasma and study the contribution to the mass from the orbital angular momentum acquired by a beam of photons when it crosses a spatially structured charge distribution. To this end we apply Proca-Maxwell equations in a static plasma with a particular spatial distribution of free charges, notably a plasma vortex, that is able to impose orbital angular momentum (OAM) onto light. In addition to the mass acquisition of the conventional Anderson-Higgs mechanism, we find that the photon acquires an additional mass from the OAM and that this mass reduces the Proca photon mass.