Coherent multiple scattering of light in (2+1) dimensions

Abstract

We formulate a multiple scattering theory of light in media spatially disordered along two directions and homogeneous along the third one, without making any paraxial approximation on the wave equation and fully treating the vector character of light. With this formalism, we calculate the distribution of transverse momenta of a beam as it evolves along the optical axis, and unveil a phenomenon not captured by the paraxial equation: a cross-over from a scalar to a vector regime, visible in the coherent backscattering peak as polarization gets randomized.

10 pages

References in corpus (3)

• Coherent Backscattering of Ultracold Atoms
• Cooperative effects and disorder: A scaling analysis of the spectrum of the effective atomic Hamiltonian
• Anderson mobility gap probed by dynamic coherent backscattering

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Spin Hall effect of light in a random medium
• Time Translation Symmetry Breaking in an Isolated Spin-Orbit-Coupled Fluid of Light
• Spin-orbit-coupled fluids of light in bulk nonlinear media
• Dynamical emergence of a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in a disordered Bose gas following a quench
• Resonant Spin Hall Effect of Light in Random Photonic Arrays
• Tailoring propagation of light via spin-orbit interactions in correlated disorder