Generalized Radially Self-Accelerating Helicon Beams

We report, in theory and experiment, on a new class of optical beams that are radially self-accelerating and nondiffracting. These beams continuously evolve on spiraling trajectories while maintaining their amplitude and phase distribution in their rotating rest frame. We provide a detailed insight into the theoretical origin and characteristics of radial self-acceleration and prove our findings experimentally. As radially self-accelerating beams are nonparaxial and a solution to the full scalar Helmholtz equation, they can be implemented in many linear wave systems beyond optics, from acoustic and elastic waves to surface waves in fluids and soft matter. Our work generalized the study of classical helicon beams to a complete set of solutions for rotating complex fields.