3 ms·

Light doesn't have a helical shape, it's just diagrammatically drawn that way to illustrate the orthogonality of fields.

• adamnemecek 8y ago
  It kinda does https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_angular_momentum_of_light https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_angular_momentum_of_...
  • strainer 8y ago
    I didnt expect that! Interesting that there are even telecommunication experiments with "circular polarized" light. It still seems most light has no circular polarization though and it can't supercoil like DNA either, unless guided through a coiled fiber or something.
    • starbeast 8y ago
      I think most light has some circular polarisation component. Also, modern 3d films use clockwise and anticlockwise polarised light to project the left and right images.
  • Retra 8y ago
    That's the shape of a light beam, which can be arranged anyway you like.
    • adamnemecek 8y ago
      It’s not any way. You are very restricted to either a helix or a disk.
      • starbeast 8y ago
        Well, there are things such as Airy beams - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airy_beam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airy_beam - I am not sure they fit a helix or disk that well.
      • Retra 8y ago
        So there isn't going to be any noise or interference in this electric field?