Topological resilience of optical skyrmions in local decoherence

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that optical skyrmions exhibit topological resilience under local decoherence, confirming their stability even with single-beam configurations and various decoherence channels, which is promising for practical applications.

Contribution

It provides the first analytical and numerical evidence of topological stability of skyrmions formed by a single classical beam under local decoherence, expanding understanding of their robustness.

Findings

Skyrmions are topologically resilient under local decoherence.

Transition points of skyrmion numbers occur across different decoherence channels.

Topological stability persists regardless of initial states and decoherence inhomogeneity.

Abstract

The topologically protected configuration embedded in skyrmions has prompted some investigations into their fundamental properties and versatile applications, sparking interest and guiding ongoing development. The topological protection associated with skyrmions was initially observed in systems with interactions. It is widely believed that skyrmions are stable yet relevant confirmation and empirical research remain limited. A pertinent question is whether skyrmion configurations formed by a single classical beam with two coupled degrees of freedom also exhibit topological stability. In this study, we affirm this hypothesis by investigating the effects of local decoherence. We analytically and numerically demonstrate the topological resilience of skyrmions and the occurrence of transition points of skyrmion numbers in local decoherence across three typical decoherence channels. On the other hand, we show that these qualities are independent of the initial state. From the numerical results, we find that inhomogeneous but continuous decoherence channels also have the same behaviors and maintain topological stability of skyrmions as homogeneous decoherence channels do. These properties of skyrmions contribute to further applications in various areas, including communication and imaging.