Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Wang, Zhuoyi, Lu, Xingyuan, Chen, Zhigang, Cai, Yangjian, Zhao, Chengliang
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Wang, Zhuoyi
Lu, Xingyuan
Chen, Zhigang
Cai, Yangjian
Zhao, Chengliang
author_facet Wang, Zhuoyi
Lu, Xingyuan
Chen, Zhigang
Cai, Yangjian
Zhao, Chengliang
contents Links and knots are exotic topological structures that have garnered significant interest across multiple branches of natural sciences. Coherent links and knots, such as those constructed by phase or polarization singularities of coherent light, have been observed in various three-dimensional optical settings. However, incoherent links and knots - knotted or connected lines of coherence singularities - arise from a fundamentally different concept. They are hidden in the statistic properties of a randomly fluctuating field, making their presence often elusive or undetectable. Here, we theoretically construct and experimentally demonstrate such topological entities of incoherent light. By leveraging a state-of-the-art incoherent modal-decomposition scheme, we unveil incoherent topological structures from fluctuating light speckles, including Hopf links and Trefoil knots of coherence singularities that are robust against coherence and intensity fluctuations. Our work is applicable to diverse wave systems where incoherence or practical coherence is prevalent, and may pave the way for design and implementation of statistically-shaped topological structures for various applications such as high-dimensional optical information encoding and optical communications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_05088
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities
Wang, Zhuoyi
Lu, Xingyuan
Chen, Zhigang
Cai, Yangjian
Zhao, Chengliang
Optics
Statistical Mechanics
Links and knots are exotic topological structures that have garnered significant interest across multiple branches of natural sciences. Coherent links and knots, such as those constructed by phase or polarization singularities of coherent light, have been observed in various three-dimensional optical settings. However, incoherent links and knots - knotted or connected lines of coherence singularities - arise from a fundamentally different concept. They are hidden in the statistic properties of a randomly fluctuating field, making their presence often elusive or undetectable. Here, we theoretically construct and experimentally demonstrate such topological entities of incoherent light. By leveraging a state-of-the-art incoherent modal-decomposition scheme, we unveil incoherent topological structures from fluctuating light speckles, including Hopf links and Trefoil knots of coherence singularities that are robust against coherence and intensity fluctuations. Our work is applicable to diverse wave systems where incoherence or practical coherence is prevalent, and may pave the way for design and implementation of statistically-shaped topological structures for various applications such as high-dimensional optical information encoding and optical communications.
title Topological links and knots of speckled light mediated by coherence singularities
topic Optics
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05088