Angular momentum of light

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.

15 pages references updated typos corrected

References in corpus (3)

• Angular momentum of the electromagnetic field: the plane wave paradox resolved
• Comments on "On vector potential of the Coulomb gauge"
• Orbital and spin components of the angular momentum of a general electromagnetic field

Cited by in corpus (13)

• The role of the Riemann-Silberstein vector in classical and quantum theories of electromagnetism
• Angular momentum of the electromagnetic field: the plane wave paradox resolved
• Fundamental Limits of Optical Force and Torque
• Electron-spin dynamics in elliptically polarized light waves
• Electron-spin dynamics induced by photon spins
• Longitudinal and transverse components of a vector field
• Role of the non-locality of the vector potential in the Aharonov-Bohm effect
• Equivalence of two mathematical forms for the bound angular momentum of the electromagnetic field
• Energy-momentum tensor and duality symmetry of linearized gravity in the Fierz formalism
• Derivation of the paraxial form of the angular momentum of the electromagnetic field from the general form
• Does the Helmholtz theorem of vector decomposition apply to the wave fields of electromagnetic radiation?
• Angular momentum of the physical electron
• On the paper 'Role of potentials in the Aharonov-Bohm effect'