#light patterns

In a Different Time

Marcin Gorsky

"Beams of light that can be guided into corkscrew-like shapes called optical vortices are used today in a range of applications. Pushing the limits of structured light, Harvard applied physicists in the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) report a new type of optical vortex beam that not only twists as it travels but also changes in different parts at different rates to create unique patterns. The way the light behaves resembles spiral shapes common in nature."

"In a peculiar twist, the researchers found that their orbital angular momentum-carrying beam of light grows in a mathematically recognizable pattern found all over the natural world. Mirroring the Fibonacci number sequence (made famous in The Da Vinci Code), their optical rotatum propagates in a logarithmic spiral that is seen in the shell of a nautilus, the seeds of a sunflower, and the branches of trees."

"The research builds on previous work in which the team used a metasurface, a thin lens etched with light-bending nanostructures, to create a light beam with controlled polarization and orbital angular momentum along its propagation path, converting any input of light into other structures that change as they move. Now, they've introduced another degree of freedom to their light, in which they can also change its spatial torque as it propagates."

All photos mine, some edited for colour and contrast, others left as is.