This special issue is to provide a platform for sharing and discussing high quality original research work in the field of singular optics. In recent years, intense activities in the generation, detection, and application of optical beams containing isolated and distributed singularities have been witnessed. Special properties of singular beams lead to novel applications in areas as diverse as microparticle manipulation, astrophysics, information technology and processing, beam and polarization shaping, microscopy, and optical testing. This special issue will offer research community a unique possibility to present new developments in singular optics.

Papers are invited that deal with singularity in the phase, polarization, coherence, or any parameters associated with the optical fields. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Fundamentals of singular optics
• Phase singularity
• Polarization singularity
• Coherence singularity
• Propagation of singular beams in linear and nonlinear media
• Generation, detection, and properties of singular beams
• Vortex metrology
• Applications of singular optics

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijo/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: