Spin-Orbit Interaction for Light and Matter Waves

Spin-orbit interaction is a well-known phenomenon in atomic physics and condensed-matter science. It pertains to the coupling of the spin of any particle, for instance an electron, to its orbital or motional degrees of freedom. For photons, the spin and orbital degrees of freedom correspond respectively to the polarization and spatial structure of the light field. Combined high-precision control and manipulation of spin-orbit interactions is a recent experimental development which has wide ranging practical implications for various fields, such as optical scattering, light-particle interaction and trapping, optical quantum information, microscopy and metamaterials. The newly obtained findings and viewpoints stimulated research in different systems such as electron or neutron beams.
The aim of the workshop is to deepen understanding in these interdisciplinary aspects and to explore future directions of the field as a whole.