Physics

2002, Special Issue

E.G. Abramochkin, V.G. Volostnikov

ROTATING LIGHT FIELDS AND SINGULAR OPTICS

Spiral beams - light fields whose intensity remains unchanged under the field propagation neglecting its scale and rotation - are investigated by theoretical and experimental means. A correspondence between spiral beams and a specific quantum-mechanical situation - ground states of a charged particle in a uniform magnetic field - is found. Some methods of spiral beam synthesis are described.