Quantum Turbulent Structure in Light

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that optical vortex structures in light exhibit turbulence-like velocity statistics similar to quantum fluids, suggesting universal features of quantum chaos and turbulence across different physical systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to analyze vortex velocities in light, revealing turbulence-like behavior and scale independence through simulations and experiments.

Findings

Vortex velocity statistics in light match those in superfluid helium and BECs.

The vortex velocity behavior is independent of system scale.

Optical vortex structures exhibit turbulence-like properties similar to quantum fluids.

Abstract

The infinite superpositions of random plane waves are known to be threaded with vortex line singularities which form complicated tangles and obey strict topological rules. We observe that within these structures a timelike axis appears to emerge with which we can define vortex velocities in a useful way: with both numerical simulations and optical experiments, we show that the statistics of these velocities match those of turbulent quantum fluids such as superfluid helium and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. These statistics are shown to be independent of system scale. These results raise deep questions about the general nature of quantum chaos and the role of nonlinearity in the structure of turbulence.