We experimentally and theoretically study nonlinear vortex dynamics with propagation by encoding vortices into a laser beam and propagating the beam through a tank filled with methanol and carbon dust. The fluid medium allows variable path length through the tank and provides a repulsive third-order nonlinear photon-photon interaction via its thermo-optic coefficient. The emerging mode is imaged onto a CCD and interfered with a reference beam allowing measurement of amplitude and phase information by single-shot interferometry. We observed core sharpening and suppression of the annihilation of oppositely charged vortices consistent with our theoretical predictions. The repulsive third-order nonlinearity of the medium gives a direct mathematical analogy between nonlinear propagation of light and mean-field dynamics of quantum fluids.
We propose a method to controllably create free-space, “hard-trapped” two-dimensional fluids with Bessel-Gaussian beam superpositions. We use these systems to experimentally demonstrate several vortex dynamics that resemble dynamics numerically predicted in weakly-interacting quantum fluids. Theoretically, we perform a Bessel-mode decomposition on an initial state containing an arrangement of optical vortices. The experiment is performed using a laser beam that is structured holographically with a spatial light modulator that contains the initial condition of the reconstructed field from the theoretical decomposition. This works allows for the experimental verification of many numerically predicted dynamics or the discovery of new dynamics from experiment.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.