Utilization of photon orbital angular momentum in the low-frequency radio domain

B. Thidé,1, ∗ H. Then,2 J. Sjöholm,3 K. Palmer,3 J. Bergman,1

T. D. Carozzi,4 Ya. N. Istomin,5 N. H. Ibragimov,6 and R. Khamitova6
1 Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Ångström Laboratory, P. O. Box 537, SE-751 21 Uppsala, Sweden
2 Institute of Physics, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, D-261 11 Oldenburg, Germany
3 Department of Astronomy and Space Physics, Ångström Laboratory, P. O. Box 515, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
4 Astronomy and Astrophysics Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK
5 I. E. Tamm Theory Department, P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, 53 Leninsky Prospect, Moscow, 119991, Russia
6 Department of Mathematics and Science, Research Centre ALGA: Advances in Lie Group Analysis,
Blekinge Institute of Technology, SE-371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden
arXiv:0705.1208v3 [astro-ph] 2 May 2009

We show numerically that vector antenna arrays can generate radio beams that exhibit spin and orbital an-
gular momentum characteristics similar to those of helical Laguerre-Gauss laser beams in paraxial optics. For
low frequencies (. 1 GHz), digital techniques can be used to coherently measure the instantaneous, local field
vectors and to manipulate them in software. This enables new types of experiments that go beyond what is pos-
sible in optics. It allows information-rich radio astronomy and paves the way for novel wireless communication
concepts.

PACS numbers: 84.40.Ba,07.57.-c,42.25.Ja,95.85.Bh

Classical electrodynamics exhibits a rich set of symmetries nos interacting with the Moon [15], studies of radio wave in-
[1], and to each Lie symmetry there corresponds a conserved teractions with the atmosphere and ionosphere [16–18], and
quantity [2, 3]. Commonly utilized conserved electromag- radar probing of the Sun [19, 20].
netic (em) quantities are the energy and linear momentum, We propose to use antenna arrays for generating and de-
where the underlying symmetries, under Poincaré transforma- tecting both SAM and OAM in radio beams and show numer-
tions, are homogeneity in time and in space, respectively. ically how this works. In such arrays one needs access to the
Another conserved quantity, manifesting the isotropy of complete 3D vectors of the radio em field over an area which
space, is the em angular momentum, whose mechanical prop- is large enough to intersect a substantial fraction of the radio
erties were predicted theoretically in 1909 [4] and demon- beam. This requires vector antennas, e.g., tripoles [21, 22];
strated experimentally in 1936 [5]. A collection of nonrela- crossed dipole antennas will be useful for beam directions
tivistic, spinless, classical particles with linear momenta pmech
i
nearly perpendicular to the antenna planes. Using digital sam-
has angular momentum Jmech = ∑i (xi − x0 ) × pmech i , where plers connected directly to each vector antenna, the local, in-
x0 is the moment point. When this system interacts with stantaneous 3D radio field vectors themselves can be mea-
em radiation with spin angular momentum (SAM) Sem and sured coherently up to the GHz range, enabling their manipu-
em orbital angular momentum (OAM) Lem , the total angu- lation, including Jem processing, entirely in software. This
larRmomentum, Jtot = Jmech + Jem , where Jem = Sem + Lem = is in contrast to infrared and optical frequencies for which
ε0 d3x (x − x0 ) × (E × B), is conserved [6]. Hence, for a current detectors are incapable of measuring first-order field
fixed Sem , a change in Jmech will result in an opposite change quantities. There phase-coherent down-conversion to the low-
in Lem , observed as a rotational (azimuthal) Doppler shift frequency radio domain might provide a solution.
[7]. This shift is distinct from the translational Doppler shift, Lasers often use Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes [23] in
which is a manifestation of the conservation of linear momen- which the phases of the electric and magnetic vector fields in
tum. As shown in Ref. 8, using an angular momentum flux a plane perpendicular to the beam axis have an l ϕ dependence
representation [9], it is always possible to separate a beam Jem where l is an integer and ϕ is the azimuthal angle. This means
into Sem , which depends only on the local polarization struc- that for l 6= 0 the phase fronts of LG modes are not planar but
ture, and Lem , which depends on the gradient of the fields; see helical. As shown in Ref. 24, this implies that LG beams carry
also Ref. 10. an OAM of l h̄ per photon. In the paraxial approximation, the
During the past few decades the use of em OAM (beam vor- LG modes form a complete basis set for light beams [23].
ticity) has come to the fore in optics [11] and in atomic and A pure OAM state radio beam of frequency ω and energy H
molecular physics [12]. However, while SAM (wave polariza- has a beam axis OAM component Lem z = lH/ω and the fields
tion), generated by proper phasing of the two legs in a crossed have an azimuthal phase dependence of exp(il ϕ ), where l is
dipole or by using helix antennas, has been used routinely for an integer as in an LG beam. In order to study the possibility
at least half a century, OAM has not yet been utilized to any of using OAM in radio, we consider an antenna array and as-
significant degree in radio physics [13] or its applications such sume for simplicity that each antenna is located equidistantly
as radio astronomy [14]. The use of radio OAM is currently along the perimeters of circles (see Fig. 1). The antennas are
being contemplated for detection of ultrahigh energy neutri- fed the same signal, but successively delayed relative to each

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FIG. 1: (color online). Radiation patterns for radio beams generated FIG. 2: Samples of instantaneous electric field vectors E across the
by one circle of 8 antennas and radius λ plus a concentric circle with main lobes of the beams in Fig. 1 (same l values and plotting order).
16 antennas and radius 2λ ; all antennas are 0.25λ over the ground. The size of an arrow is linearly proportional to the local |E|. As
Notice the influence of l on the radiation pattern. Here l = 0 (upper expected for OAM carrying beams, the phase of the em field changes
left), l = 1 (upper right), l = 2 (lower left), and l = 4 (lower right). by l2π for a full turn around the beam axis.

other such that after a full turn around the antenna array axis, OAM number that can be resolved. Namely, |l| <#{antennas
the phase has been incremented by l2π . The far field inten- on a circle around the beam axis}/2. We have assumed that
sity patterns, calculated with the software package NEC2 [25] the beam axis is centered on the antenna array, but this is not
which solves Maxwell’s equations for a given set of antenna necessarily true. The beam axis is determined by the emitter
currents, are displayed in Figs. 1, 3, and 4 and are very similar only, not by the receiving antenna array. Therefore an incom-
to those obtained in paraxial optics. Fig. 2 displays the instan- ing radio beam might not overlap the antenna array perfectly
taneous E field vectors across the main lobes for different l. so that only an asymmetric spatial part of the beam can be
Theory predicts that j = l + s = ω Jzem /H [24]. Table I lists the analyzed. A disadvantage in this case is that we do not have
results obtained for l = 0, 1, 2, 3 and s = −1 for a radio beam exact information of the phase along the whole circle around
generated by an antenna array. The agreement is excellent. the beam axis. We have to extrapolate from accurate mea-
The superposition of two coaxial OAM states was modeled surements of the field vectors within the finite size antenna
numerically by using two concentric antenna rings with dif- array to the field vectors around the beam axis. This extrap-
ferent radii. In the inner ring we increase the overall phase olation yields an uncertainty ∆l > R∆ϕ /D, (R ≫ D), where
between successive antennas by 2π l1 /n1 . In the outer ring we ∆ϕ is the smallest phase difference in radians that can be re-
use the phase increment 2π l2 /n2 . The variables n1 and n2 are solved, D is the diameter of the antenna array, and R is the
the number of antennas in each ring, respectively, and l1 and distance from the beam axis to the antenna array. Since l
l2 are the phase increment factors corresponding to the OAM is integer valued, the uncertainty does not matter as long as
number l in the LG beams. The resulting antenna radiation it is less than 1/2. While losing information about the indi-
patterns are shown in Fig. 3 for three different combinations
of l1 and l2 . These patterns would be difficult to synthesize
without resort to the OAM technique. For comparison, inten- TABLE I: Scaling of ω Jzem /H as a function of l for a right-hand
sity patterns for OAM carrying LG beams for the same l1 and circular polarized beam (s = −1) formed by a ring array of 10 crossed
l2 combinations are also shown. dipoles. Array radius D = λ , antennas 0.1λ over perfect ground,
In the general (linear) case, the total OAM in a beam is a su- polar angle θ = 0.
perposition of several OAM states. This superposition can be l s j = l +s ω Jzem /H
decomposed into pure OAM states via a discrete Fourier trans- 0 -1 -1 -1.019
form. In particular, one has to integrate the complex field vec- 1 -1 0 -0.022
tor weighted with exp(−il ϕ ) along a circle around the beam
2 -1 1 0.971
axis. Since there will be only a finite number of antennas
3 -1 2 1.81
along the integration path, there is an upper limit on the largest
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FIG. 4: (color online). Radiation patterns for a circularly polarized

beam propagating obliquely (θ = 25◦ ) with l = 0 (left) and l = 1
(right), generated by phasing the individual elements of a ten-tripole
array in free space. This illustrates that with a tripole array it is pos-
FIG. 3: (color online). Beams obtained by superimposing two dif- sible to control electronically both the beam direction and l. This is
ferent OAM states. The upper three panels show the radiation pat- not possible with arrays of single or crossed dipoles. Note that for
terns for the antenna array, and the lower three panels show the l 6= 0, there will be an on-beam-axis minimum which can be useful
corresponding intensity patterns, head on, calculated for Laguerre- to block out a bright object when observing faint surrounding objects
Gaussian beams. The leftmost are for l1 = 1 and l2 = 2, the middle [26], e.g., in the solar corona [20].
ones are for l1 = 1 and l2 = 4, and the rightmost are for l1 = 2 and
l2 = 4. Notice the good agreement between the patterns obtained
with the antenna array model and the paraxial LG beam model.
where Ωk is the projection of the rotation frequency onto the
wave vector k [7]. Decomposing into pure spin states, the
vidual OAM states, it is possible to measure estimated larger discrete emission spectrum will be decomposed into one for
OAM numbers up to |l| <#{antennas along a circle segment s = +1 and one for s = −1. These two spectra should almost
of length D}π R/D, (R ≫ D). coincide in their spectral lines, except for an overall shift. The
The Poynting vector of a radio beam with OAM has a he- relative overall shift between the two spectra is equal to twice
lical phase structure and spirals around the main beam axis the rotational frequency of the emitter. Once Ωk has been read
with a pitch angle αl = arctan(λ l/2π R). This angle can be off, one can search for spectral lines that are separated exactly
resolved if l can be resolved, i.e., if ∆l < 1/2. In this case one by Ωk (and integer multiples thereof). Each of these spectral
observes multiple images of a single point source where each lines corresponds to a specific OAM state.
image corresponds to a pure OAM state l. If l cannot be re- When pointing the beam in a direction other than the z axis
solved, the multiple images blend together yielding a smeared (orthogonal to the plane of the dipoles), vector sensing an-
spot. Conversely, if the individual OAM states are resolved, tennas such as tripoles are much preferred. They have the
the smeared spots are resolved as multiple images (one for advantage that the three orthogonal antenna currents can be
each l), enabling self-calibration techniques that sharpen the viewed as the x, y, and z components of a composite antenna
radio image via the use of OAM. current vector j(t, x) which, under software control, can be ro-
Inserting typical values of D = 100 km, ∆ϕ = 2π × tated into any given direction in space, in the receive case even
1◦ /360◦, into ∆l > R∆ϕ /D, and requiring that ∆l < 1/2, one after the fact. To generate off-zenith em beams with non-zero
obtains Rmax = 3000 km for which the OAM can be resolved. l values, the tripole is indispensable since one cannot control
It should therefore be possible to probe OAM processes in the direction of the beam with linear dipoles or crossed dipoles
the Earth’s ionosphere and lower magnetosphere and also to and still maintain the desired l ϕ phase dependence; see Fig. 4.
actively induce plasma vorticity and strong toroidal electric This is because the phase difference between the elements is
currents there [16]. In particular, a radio beam that interacts used to point the beam. The only way to overcome this limita-
with a turbulent medium will carry information on the vortic- tion would be to mechanically rotate the antenna array. Such
ity of this medium allowing for remote radio imaging of the an arrangement would be infeasible.
turbulence [17]. But, it is not likely that radio beams from In summary, we have shown by theoretical and numeri-
distant astronomical objects are so narrowly focused that they cal modeling that a number of the photon SAM and OAM
can be probed for OAM unless the array extends into space. signatures observed in paraxial optics can be generated in
On the other hand, if the ionosphere adds OAM to a beam the radio frequency range where, for low enough frequencies
from a distant source, this added OAM can be measured and (. 1 GHz), modern digital radio techniques can be used to
compensated for. measure coherently the 3D electric (and magnetic) vectors in
Should, however, the radio emitting object rotate fast and the beams. This opens up new kinds of fundamental electro-
have sharp discrete lines in its emission spectrum, the angular magnetic radiation experiments. Furthermore, minor changes
momentum of the emitted em waves can be measured indi- of the design of the large low-frequency multi-array radio tele-
rectly via shifts and splittings of the spectral lines. The shifts scopes coming on line (LOFAR [27]) or in the planning stage
result from the rotational Doppler effect ω − ω0 = (l + s)Ωk (SKA [28]), would enable them to utilize not only SAM but
 4

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