Experimental Observation of Fluidlike Motion of Optical Vortices

Abstract
We have observed the fluidlike rotation of a pair of identical optical vortices (OV's) as they propagate through free space. Similar to vortex filaments in a fluid, the initial rotation rate is found to be inversely proportional to the squared distance of separation. Owing to unusually small vortex cores, we obtained rotation rates that were 2 orders of magnitude larger than expected for “conventional” large core OV's.

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