title: Is there an optimal basis to maximise optical information transfer?
abstract: We establish the concept of the density of the optical degrees of freedom that may be applied to any photonics based system. As a key example of this versatile approach we explore information transfer using optical communication. We demonstrate both experimentally, theoretically and numerically that the use of a basis set with fields containing optical vortices does not increase the telecommunication capacity of an optical system.
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK.
authors.forename: Mingzhou
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK.
authors.forename: Kishan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dholakia
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazilu