Orbital angular momentum in optical waves propagating through distributed turbulence

Abstract

This is the second of two papers demonstrating that photons with orbital angular momentum can be created in optical waves propagating through distributed turbulence. In the companion paper, it is shown that propagation through atmospheric turbulence can create non-trivial angular momentum. Here, we extend the result and demonstrate that this momentum is, at least in part, orbital angular momentum. Specifically, we demonstrate that branch points (in the language of the adaptive optic community) indicate the presence of photons with non-zero OAM. Furthermore, the conditions required to create photons with non-zero orbital angular momentum are ubiquitous. The repercussions of this statement are wide ranging and these are cursorily enumerated.