International Conference on Optical Angular Momentum

Until relatively recently, the angular momentum associated with certain types of light, particularly light endowed with an azimuthal phase dependence, has been regarded as a relatively unexplored strand of optics. It has now become an active interdisciplinary field of research with considerable potential for further development. Of late, there have been several unexpected advances in this area, in both fundamental and applied aspects. Not only the angular momentum, but the phase and helicity of such beams present singular features. The main objective of this conference is to bring together the practitioners and others interested to identify new developments and directions for further exploration of this rich field, encompassing a broad range of topics including: the theoretical foundations; techniques leading to the experimental realisation of phase-bearing light; utility (both classical and quantum contexts) for manipulating various forms of matter in the bulk and in microscopic forms; cooling and trapping using twisted light; effects associated with a specific helicity of light; connections between phase singularities and orbital angular momentum; types of beam (Bessel, Laguerre-Gaussian etc); angular uncertainty relations; surface vortices, and applications including quantum information, optical spanners etc.