Abstract

Critical foliations are special two-dimensional slices (planes of observation) of a three-dimensional optical field in which an infinitesimally small change in the angle of observation produces major qualitative differences in the observed field structure. They are common, but previously unrecognized, features of optical fields that contain vortices. An experimentally realizable, on-axis example of such a foliation is described for a paraxial Gaussian laser beam.

© 2001 Optical Society of America

Vortex revivals with trapped light

Gabriel Molina-Terriza, Lluis Torner, Ewan M. Wright, Juan J. García-Ripoll, and Víctor M. Pérez-García
Opt. Lett. 26(20) 1601-1603 (2001)

Elliptic critical points: C-points, a-lines, and the sign rule

A. I. Mokhun, M. S. Soskin, and I. Freund
Opt. Lett. 27(12) 995-997 (2002)

Propagation and control of noncanonical optical vortices

Gabriel Molina-Terriza, Ewan M. Wright, and Lluis Torner
Opt. Lett. 26(3) 163-165 (2001)

Poincaré vortices

Isaac Freund
Opt. Lett. 26(24) 1996-1998 (2001)

The curious arithmetic of optical vortices

Gabriel Molina-Terriza, Jaume Recolons, and Lluis Torner
Opt. Lett. 25(16) 1135-1137 (2000)