Rotatum of Light

Abstract

Vortices are ubiquitous in nature and can be observed in fluids, condensed matter, and even in the formation of galaxies. Light, too, can evolve like a vortex. Optical vortices are exploited in light-matter interaction, free-space communications, and imaging. Here, we introduce optical rotatum; a new degree-of-freedom of light in which an optical vortex experiences a quadratic chirp in its orbital angular momentum along the optical path. We show that such an adiabatic deformation of topology is associated with the accumulation of a Berry phase factor which in turn perturbs the propagation constant (spatial frequency) of the beam. Remarkably, the spatial structure of optical rotatum follows a logarithmic spiral; a signature that is commonly seen in the pattern formation of seashells and galaxies. Our work expands previous literature on structured light, offers new modalities for light-matter interaction, communications, and sensing, and hints to analogous effects in condensed matter physics and Bose-Einstein condensates.