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Published on: August 18, 2017
Chirality and the angular momentum of light
Robert P Cameron1, Jörg B Götte2, Stephen M Barnett2
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK robert.cameron@glasgow.ac.uk.
Abstract:
Chirality is exhibited by objects that cannot be rotated into their mirror images. It is far from obvious that this has anything to do with the angular momentum of light, which owes its existence to rotational symmetries. There is nevertheless a subtle connection between chirality and the angular momentum of light. We demonstrate this connection and, in particular, its significance in the context of chiral light-matter interactions.This article is part of the themed issue 'Optical orbital angular momentum'.
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