khrapko

The distribution of angular momentum in a cross-section of a
circularly polarized light beam is unknown now.


from place to place in a light beam [1].
“A different amount of angular momentum might be expected to be
transferred at different position in the wavefront” [2].
“At a particular local point the z-component of angular momentum flux
divided by energy flux does not yield a simple value” [3].
Simmonds and Guttmann wrote:
“The skin region [of the beam] is the only in which the z-component of
angular momentum does not vanish.” [4]

An experiment was suggested, which can show the distribution of
angular momentum in a cross-section of a light beam [5]. But the
following journals rejected the corresponding paper (see [6]) without
reviewing:
all Physical Review, all IOP journals (EPL, NJP, JOPA), Elsevier (OC,
PLA), OSA (OL, AO), Taylor (JMO, IJO), FOOP, CLEO/IQEC-conference.
Only Acta Physica Polonica (Prof. Witold Dobrowolski) wrote (after 5-
month thinking):
“The proposed experiment is useless; its result is easily predicted.
Everything is based on misunderstanding. The author assumes that the
absorption of photons occurs locally (where the energy density is the
biggest). In fact, the process of absorption is nonlocal (best
illustration: absorption of extended radiation by a small atom). Both
energy and total angular momentum are local, although the splitting of
the angular momentum into its orbital and spinorial parts is
nonlocal”.

As you see, Prof. Witold Dobrowolski did not predict the result.

[1] Allen L., Padgett M. J., Babiker M. in Wolf E. (Ed.) Progress in
Optics ***IX. – Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1999, p.300.
[2] Allen L., Padgett M. J., “The Poynting vector in Laguerre-Gaussian
beams and the interpretation of their angular momentum density,” Opt.
Commun. 184, 67-71 (2000).
[3] Allen L., M. W. Beijersbergen, R. J. C. Spreeuw, and J. P.
Woerdman, “Orbital angular momentum of light and the transformation of
Laguerre-Gaussian modes,” Phys. Rev. A45, 8185-8189 (1992)
[4] Simmonds J. W., M. J. Guttmann, States, Waves and Photons (Addison-
Wesley, Reading, MA, 1970)
[5] http://mai.ru/publications/index.php?ID=8926 (June 30, 2009)
[6] Khrapko R.I. Experiment concerning electrodynamics’ nonlocality
http://khrapkori.wmsite.ru/ftpgetfile.php?id=46&module=files

khrapko

I submitted the paper to JOSA B on September 26.
I received the anonymous rejection on September 27:
“Manuscript ID: 155369 Title: Experiment Concerning Electrodynamics’
Nonlocality. As we've stated in the past, we will not consider your
work for publication in this or any other OSA journal. Please submit
your paper elsewhere. Sincerely, JOSA B Manuscripts Office”