Eur. Phys. J. D (2017) 71: 164
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2017-70711-0

Regular Article

Twisted partially coherent bosonic matter wave and its orbital angular momentum

¹ College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, P.R. China
² Center for Optics and Optoelectronics Research, College of Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, P.R. China

^a e-mail: chenjun.sun@gmail.com

Received: 14 November 2016
Received in final form: 26 March 2017
Published online: 20 June 2017

Abstract

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a general characteristic of coherent bosonic matter waves. Partially coherent bosonic matter waves (PCMWs) can also have OAM according to a vortex or twisted structure of the correlation phase of the first-order correlation function. We theoretically prove that a twist phase exists under partial coherence, and this phase contributes to the OAM flux of the PCMW field. We also present an example which illustrates that a twist phase can be produced by illuminating a Gaussian Schell model cold atomic cloud with a sequence of cylindrical lens pulses.