Scattering of inhomogeneous circularly polarized optical field and mechanical manifestation of the internal energy flows

Based on the Mie theory and on the incident beam model via superposition of two plane waves, we analyze numerically the momentum flux of the field scattered by a spherical microparticle placed within the spatially inhomogeneous circularly polarized paraxial light beam. The asymmetry between the forward- and backward-scattered momentum fluxes in the Rayleigh scattering regime appears due to the spin part of the internal energy flow in the incident beam. The transverse ponderomotive forces exerted on dielectric and conducting particles of different sizes are calculated and special features of the mechanical actions produced by the spin and orbital parts of the internal energy flow are recognized. In particular, the transverse orbital flow exerts the transverse force that grows as a^3 for conducting and as a^6 for dielectric subwavelength particle with radius a, in compliance with the dipole mechanism of the field-particle interaction; the force associated with the spin flow behaves as a^8 in both cases, which testifies for the non-dipole mechanism. The results can be used for experimental identification and separate investigation of the spin and orbital parts of the internal energy flow in light fields.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. For resubmission, the language is improved, numerical mistakes in Fig. 4 are corrected and discussion is modified accordingl

Polarization resolved angular patterns in nematic liquid crystal cells

We study the angular structure of polarization of light transmitted through a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell by theoretically analyzing the polarization state as a function of the incidence angles. For a uniformly aligned NLC cell, the $4\times 4$ matrix formalism and the orthogonality relations are used to derive the analytical expressions for the transmission and reflection matrices. The polarization resolved angular patterns in the two-dimensional projection plane are characterized in terms of the polarization singularities: C points (points of circular polarization) and L lines (lines of linear polarization). In the case of linearly polarized plane waves incident on the homeotropically aligned cell, we present the results of detailed theoretical analysis describing the structure of the polarization singularities. We apply the theory to compute the polarization patterns for various orientational structures in the NLC cell and discuss the effects induced by the director orientation and biaxiality.Comment: pdflatex, rextex4, 22 pages, 7 figures (jpeg

Internal flows and energy circulation in light beams

We review optical phenomena associated with the internal energy redistribution which accompany propagation and transformations of monochromatic light fields in homogeneous media. The total energy flow (linear-momentum density, Poynting vector) can be divided into spin part associated with the polarization and orbital part associated with the spatial inhomogeneity. We give general description of the internal flows in the coordinate and momentum (angular spectrum) representations for both nonparaxial and paraxial fields. This enables one to determine local densities and integral values of the spin and orbital angular momenta of the field. We analyse patterns of the internal flows in standard beam models (Gaussian, Laguerre-Gaussian, flat-top beam, etc.), which provide an insightful picture of the energy transport. The emphasize is made to the singular points of the flow fields. We describe the spin-orbit and orbit-orbit interactions in the processes of beam focusing and symmetry breakdown. Finally, we consider how the energy flows manifest themselves in the mechanical action on probing particles and in the transformations of a propagating beam subjected to a transverse perturbation.Comment: 50 pages, 21 figures, 173 references. This is the final version of the manuscript (v1) modified in accord to the referee's remarks and with allowance for the recent development. The main changes are: additional discussion of the energy flows in Bessel beams (section 4.1), a lot of new references are added and the Conclusion is shortened and made more accurat