Vortex beams in turbulent media: Review

The review covers publications concerned with propagation of laser beams through turbulent media described by the Kolmogorov theory and generalizations thereof to describe signal transmission in optical communications and detection systems. In this case, the turbulent medium is interpreted as an optical channel with random parameters. Various optical signals considered include partially coherent beams, non-uniformly polarized vector beams, as well as specifically configured spatial laser beams. Special attention is given to vortex laser beams. The latter are shown to have a number of remarkable properties that give them an advantage over conventional Gaussian beams.