Abstract

As is the case with many other discoveries, the discovery of orbital angular momentum of light followed from seemingly unrelated research. Since then many aspects of electromagnetic orbital angular momentum have been studied, but there is still much to explore. Measuring the mechanical effect of the orbital angular momentum in a clean, well-defined system has been attempted but not yet achieved. However, this does not hinder to study the interaction between orbital angular momentum of electromagnetic fields and matter, which can take place at enormously differing scales. OAM is playing an important role in astronomical processes, and measurement of electromagnetic OAM from astronomical sources will open up a completely new field in astronomy. However, such observation requires a better understanding of possible mechanisms that can generate electromagnetic OAM and its interaction with matter at astronomical scales. It also requires a better understanding of how to measure electromagnetic OAM. It is however likely that there is OAM in astronomical radiation, and that detection mechanisms can be developed to observe it.

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