Discontinuous evolution of optical vortices in outward circular Airy beams

Xiaoxue Li, Kehao Zeng, Luyong Lin, Hao Yuan, Xinyuan Jing, Wenlei Yu and Yunfeng Jiang

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2026, vol. 209, issue P2

Abstract: The evolution of optical vortices (OVs) is generally considered continuous in free space. However, an apparent jump-like shift in OV position is observed for the first time in the background light field of outward Circular Airy beams (OCABs). The inward motion of the original OV induces the generation of a conjugate OV pair, whose subsequent interaction leads to an effective positional relocation of the OV core. The OV moves inward through a sequence of jump-like positional changes until it reaches the focal region. Moreover, higher-order OVs in OCAB are found to split into inward- and outward-moving components, depending on their initial radial positions. The inward OV undergoes multiple jump-like positional changes, while the outward OV moves continuously. This OV evolution mechanism is demonstrated through both numerical simulations and experiments.

Keywords: Optical vortices; Circular airy beams; Phase singularities; Vortex pair generation and annihilation; Discontinuous vortex evolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:209:y:2026:i:p2:s0960077926006193

DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2026.118478

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