We analyze the influence of atmospheric turbulence on the propagation of an optical vortex beam having the form V(r, theta)(velence)A_(0)e~(im(theta)). The probability that a detected photon after propagating through the atmosphere has the same value of the orbital angular momentum as the launched photon is found to be given by velence[1+(1.845D/r_(0))~(2)]~(-1/2), where D is the aperture diameter and r_(0) is the Fried coherence diameter. These vortex beams behave very similarly to Laguerre-Gauss beams under the influence of atmospheric turbulence. These results have important implications for atmospheric laser communication systems that employ quantum encryption.
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