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arXiv:0805.0816 · Journal of Modern Optics

Laguerre–Gaussian modes and the Wigner transform

Michael VanValkenburgh

Published Dec 10, 2008• 6 citations
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Abstract

Recent developments in laser physics have called renewed attention to Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams of paraxial light. In this paper we consider the corresponding LG modes for the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator, which appear in the transversal plane at the laser beam's waist. We see how they arise as Wigner transforms of Hermite–Gaussian modes, and we proceed to find a closed form for their own Wigner transforms, providing an alternative to the methods of Simon and Agarwal. Our main observation is that the Wigner transform intertwines the creation and annihilation operators for the two classes of modes.

DOI
10.1080/09500340802322434

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Recent developments in laser physics have called renewed attention to Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams of paraxial light. In this paper we consider the corresponding LG modes for the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator, which appear in the transversal plane at the laser beam's waist. We see how they arise as Wigner transforms of Hermite–Gaussian modes, and we proceed to find a closed form for their own Wigner transforms, providing an alternative to the methods of Simon and Agarwal. Our main observation is that the Wigner transform intertwines the creation and annihilation operators for the two classes of modes.
By introducing a new entangled state representation, we show that the Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) mode is just the wave function of the common eigenvector of the orbital angular momentum and the total photon number operators of 2-d oscillator, which can be generated by 50:50 beam splitter with the phase difference phi=Pi/2ϕ between the reflected and transmitted fields. Based on this and using the Weyl ordering invariance under similar transforms, the Wigner representation of LG is directly obtained, which can be considered as the generalized Wigner transform of Hermite Gaussian modes.
We present two equivalent analytical expressions of the Wigner function (WF) of Ince–Gauss (IG) eigenstates of the Schrödinger equation in elliptic coordinates for the two-dimensional (2D) harmonic oscillator. To this end, we first derive closed-form expressions for the Weyl transforms for two different Hermite–Gauss (HG) states and two different helical Laguerre–Gauss (LG) states. Using these Weyl transforms, we also obtain the WF of the IG states through twofold finite summations and the WF of parity-definite LG states in a closed form. An alternative expression of the WF of the IG states in terms of the harmonic oscillator’s quadratic invariants is also presented.
Diffractive optics are used to create low- and high-order Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams from the output of a diode laser. We examine the mode purities, conversion efficiencies, extinction ratios, and propagation characteristics. We present detailed analyses of the beam profiles for one low-order (LG01)({\mathrm{LG}}_{0}^{1})(LG01​) and one high-order (LG12)({\mathrm{LG}}_{1}^{2})(LG12​) Laguerre-Gaussian mode. Modeling the LG12{\mathrm{LG}}_{1}^{2}LG12​ beam as a superposition of LG modes, we find $(99.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.9%)$ of the laser intensity in the LG12{\mathrm{LG}}_{1}^{2}LG12​ mode, a mode purity greater than for LG beams created by other methods external to the laser cavity. The high mode purity may be useful in making atom traps for precision measurements and for Bose-Einstein condensation.
We continue the study, from a semiclassical viewpoint, of Calvo and Picon's operators, as manipulating photon states in quantum communication. In a previous paper, we defined a one-dimensional model operator and studied it analytically before moving on to Calvo and Picon's full two-dimensional operators. In the present paper, we show how the one-dimensional operator may also be useful as an experimental model, since it allows manipulations of two-dimensional Laguerre-Gaussian modes; the intensity distributions (in physical space) of the Laguerre-Gaussian modes then approximately flow along the elliptic curves studied earlier. Since the Wigner transform is fundamental in the study of Laguerre-Gaussian modes, we give a slightly expanded and improved treatment of the semiclassical Wigner transform, which was only briefly mentioned in the previous paper.
Hagedorn wave packets appear as the eigenstates of multidimensional harmonic oscillators, and are given by a polynomial times a Gaussian. We recognise the arising polynomials for normalised and unnormalised Hagedorn wave packets as generalised multivariate Hermite polynomials, which are not tensor products in general. We provide formulas for generating functions and ladder operators, and prove a direct connection to the Laguerre polynomials. As our main result, we show that the class of Hagedorn wave packets is invariant under the Wigner transform, and present an explanation for the product structure of normalised Hagedorn wave packets in phase space, which has recently been discovered.