A decomposition of light's spin angular momentum density.

Light carries intrinsic spin angular momentum (SAM) when the electric or magnetic field vector rotates over time. A familiar vector equation calculates the direction of light's SAM density using the right-hand rule with reference to the electric and magnetic polarisation ellipses. Using Maxwell's equations, this vector equation can be decomposed into a sum of two distinct terms, akin to the well-known Poynting vector decomposition into orbital and spin currents.

Clash of kinks: phase shifts in colliding nonintegrable solitons.

We derive a closed-form expression for the phase shift experienced by (1+1)-dimensional kinks colliding at ultrarelativistic velocities (γv>>1), valid for arbitrary periodic potentials. Our closed-form expression is the leading-order result of a more general scattering theory of solitary waves described in a related paper [Phys. Rev.

Gravitational wave production at the end of inflation.

We consider gravitational wave production due to parametric resonance at the end of inflation, or "preheating." This leads to large inhomogeneities that source a stochastic background of gravitational waves at scales inside the comoving Hubble horizon at the end of inflation. We confirm that the present amplitude of these gravitational waves need not depend on the inflationary energy scale.