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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 78: Quantum Optics and Control III

Q 78.4: Talk

Friday, March 6, 2026, 15:15–15:30, P 3

Revisiting the fully quantum approach to twisted photons' propagation in atmospheric turbulence — •Tim Ehret, Vyacheslav Shatokhin, and Andreas Buchleitner — Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder Straße 3, 79104 Freiburg

Propagation of photonic spatial modes carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) through a turbulent atmosphere is an active research area that is important from the fundamental point of view, as well as for applications. A standard approach to account for atmospheric effects on spatial modes is based on the stochastic parabolic equation and the numerical multiple phase screens method derived therefrom. Notwithstanding the success of these approaches, a fully quantum treatment of the propagation of photons through turbulence taking full advantage of the open quantum system toolbox will be highly desirable. However, until now this problem has remained essentially unsolved. In the present contribution, we derive a quantum master equation for the ensemble-averaged density matrix of twisted photons that are phase-distorted by turbulence, show its equivalence to the master equation postulated by F. S. Roux [1], and present some preliminary numerical results. We also compare our results to state of the art of the research field.

[1] Filippus S. Roux, The Lindblad equation for the decay of entanglement due to atmospheric scintillation, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical 47.19, (2014), DOI: 10.1088/1751-8113/47/19/195302

Keywords: Disordered Systems; Open Quantum Systems; Twisted Photons