Doctoral Degree Programme: Physics

Field: Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics

Supervisor’s Name: Tomáš Tyc

Doctoral Thesis Subject Title (2008/09):

Vortex Structures in Physics

Subject brief characteristics:

Vortex structures can be met in many areas of physics: in fluid mechanics as vortices in a sink or vortex rings, in optics as light vortices in speckles or orbital angular momentum states, in quantum mechanics for the phase in the Aharonov - Bohm effect or in elementary excitations of suprafluid helium, in electromagnetism for magnetic field or vector potential etc. In optics (but not just there) there are many promising applications connected to vortex structures, e.g. cryptography or micromanipulation of small objects by light, and there is a lot of ongoing research in this field. The goal of the dissertation will be to map what is known about vortex structures and then focus on some of the areas mentioned above (probably optics). The student will try to solve some open problems in the selected area, for example to describe sensitivity and stability of a vortex light field with respect to small changes of parameters of individual plane waves that the field is composed of.

List of basic references:

[1] M. V. Berry: Phase vortex spirals, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38, L745 (2005)

[2] H. Hasimoto, J. Fluid Mech. 51, 477 (1972).

[3] L. Allen, S. M. Barnett, M. J. Padgett: Optical angular momentum (Institute of Physics Publishing, 2003)