Manually Controlling Branched Flow of Light

Abstract Branched flow is a fundamental natural phenomenon of wave propagation, which can reflect the characteristics of energy transmission in nonlinear medium. Recently, branched flows of light have been clearly observed from laser beam irradiation on soap films1. Here, we apply the quasiparticle notation suggested by our previous work to generate branched flow of light2, e.g., a simple experiment was designed by exploring light interacting with tiny glass spheres in a background of pure water. The images indicate that branched flow of light can be successfully produced from the point of contact between the laser beam and the glass spheres. Moreover, two different approaches have been applied to simulate and interpret the experimental findings, and the observed branched flow of light can be attributed to the newly proposed concept of the main branched flow of light, while the sub-branched flow of light that could not be detected experimentally due to scattered light from imperfect glass pellets. These discoveries may have significant implications for manually controlling or a better understanding of branched flow of light.