Vortex states of photons, electrons, and other particles are non-plane-wave solutions of the corresponding wave equation with helicoidal wave fronts. These states possess an intrinsic orbital angular momentum with respect to the average propagation direction, which represents a new degree of freedom, previously unexplored in particle or nuclear collisions. Vortex states of photons, electrons, neutrons, and neutral atoms have been experimentally produced, albeit at low energies, and are being intensively explored. Anticipating future experimental progress, one can ask what additional insights on nuclei and particles one can gain once collisions of high-energy vortex states become possible. This review describes the present-day landscape of physics opportunities, experimental progress and suggestions relevant to vortex states in high energy collisions. The aim is to familiarize the community with this emergent cross-disciplinary topic and to provide a sufficiently complete literature coverage, highlighting some results and calculational techniques.

光子、电子和其他粒子的涡旋态是相应波动方程的非平面波解，具有螺旋波前。这些状态具有相对于平均传播方向的固有轨道角动量，这代表了一个新的自由度，以前在粒子或核碰撞中未探索过。光子、电子、中子和中性原子的涡旋态已经通过实验产生，尽管能量很低，并且正在深入探索。预计未来的实验进展，人们可以问，一旦高能涡旋状态的碰撞成为可能，人们可以获得哪些关于原子核和粒子的额外见解。这篇评论描述了当今物理学机会的前景，与高能碰撞中的涡旋态相关的实验进展和建议。目的是让社区熟悉这个新兴的跨学科主题，并提供足够完整的文献报道，突出一些结果和计算技术。