Indices of polarization Möbius strips surrounding lines of circular polarization in nonparaxial optical fields

Abstract

Detailed analysis of polarization ellipse strips constructed on small circular contours surrounding a single polarization singularity line of an electromagnetic field is carried out. It is shown that the strips formed by major and minor axes of polarization ellipses are nonorientable Möbius strips with opposite directions of twist. Explicit analytical expressions relating the direction of the strip twist to the orientation of its construction contour and the parameters of the electromagnetic field at the polarization singularity point are found.