Theoretical Optics and Photonics (TOP) Group

Localised waves are electromagnetic pulses, that do not exhibit diffraction or dispersion during propagation, as they remain localised in a certain region of spacetime. Thank to their peculiar nature, localised waves have a natural resilience against external perturbations, which makes them the idea candidate for carrying information through random and turbulent media. The most famous representative of this class of waves, is most certainly the X-wave, named after its characteristic X-shaped spatiotemporal profile.

Our research on localised waves has a twofold scope: on one hand, we study angular momentum carrying X-waves, their quantum properties, and their propagation in turbulent and random media. Recently, we have shown how X-waves can carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) [PRL 115, 100401 (2015)], and we have used this result to study the dynamics of quantum X-waves with OAM in nonlinear, dispersive media [J. Opt. 20, 065201 (2018)] .

On the other hand, we look for new forms of localised waves, with different spatiotemporal structures, beyond X-waves, with particular attention to their performances in nonlinear and random media.