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Updated: May 21, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Creating well-defined orbital angular momentum states with a random turbulent medium
Denis W Oesch1, Darryl J Sanchez
1Science Applications International Corporation, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. denis.w.oesch@saic.com
Abstract:
Previous work by Allen, demonstrated that optical beams possess orbital angular momentum. Other work has shown that a random, phase-only disturbance can impart ± 1 orbital angular momentum states to propagating waves. However, the field preceding the formation of these ± 1 states was unknown. In this paper, we identify the unique field that leads to the formation of a pair of branch points, indicators of orbital angular momentum. This field is then verified in a bench-top optical experiment.
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