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Angular Momentum of Light

Date

Authors

Stewart, Andrew

Publisher

Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract

By means of the Helmholtz theorem on the decomposition of vector fields, the angular momentum of the classical electromagnetic field is decomposed, in a general and manifestly gauge invariant manner, into a spin component and an orbital component. The method is applied to linearly and circularly polarized plane waves in their classical and quantum forms.

Keywords

Keywords: Electromagnetic waves; Electron energy levels; Light polarization; Quantum theory; Vectors; Angular momentum; Helmoltz theorem; Polarized plane waves; Light propagation

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1885/79816

Collections

ANU Research Publications

Source

Journal of Modern Optics

Type

Journal article

DOI

10.1080/09500340512331326832

Restricted until

2037-12-31

Downloads

File

Description

01_Stewart_Angular_Momentum_of_Light_2005.pdf (144.38 KB)