Canonical separation of angular momentum of light into its orbital and spin parts
Iwo Bialynicki-Birula, Zofia Bialynicka-Birula
TL;DR
This paper demonstrates that using the photon picture of electromagnetic fields allows for an unambiguous separation of the total angular momentum into orbital and spin components.
Contribution
It introduces a method based on the photon picture to clearly distinguish between orbital and spin angular momentum of light.
Findings
Unambiguous separation of angular momentum components
Photon picture provides a definitive framework
Clarifies longstanding ambiguities in light's angular momentum
Abstract
It is shown that the photon picture of the electromagnetic field enables one to determine unambiguously the splitting of the total angular momentum of the electromagnetic field into the orbital part and the spin part.
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Taxonomy
TopicsOrbital Angular Momentum in Optics · Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies · Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics