In nonparaxial monochromatic light, the electric and magnetic fields generally have different energy densities, different singularities, and different polarization structures. This means that, whereas the nonparaxial topology of the electric and magnetic fields are individually well-studied, it is less obvious how to appreciate the relationship between the two fields and the way that this relationship varies over space. This requires understanding how nonparaxial light locally breaks fundamental symmetries (parity, duality, time-reversal) and offers a more complete picture of the topology of electromagnetic waves. With this work an electromagnetic ellipse that mixes electric and magnetic fields is introduced, residing not in real space, but in electric-magnetic (EM) space, whose geometry depends on such broken symmetries. The EM ellipse has circular and linear polarization singularities and may be organized into particlelike textures, even in common focused beams of light. Here, a second-order EM ellipse meron (a half skyrmion) is numerically demonstrated in a linearly polarized vortex beam.

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• Optical vortices
• Polarization of light
• Structured light
• Topological effects in photonic systems