Superfluidlike Motion of Vortices in Light Condensates

Abstract

We demonstrate, through numerical simulations, the generation of stable vortex lattices in light condensates. This can be achieved by propagating several concentric laser beams with nested vortices of different topological charges in an optical material with a cubic-quintic nonlinearity. We have considered several initial conditions, and in all the cases the net topological charges of the resulting lattice is equal to the topological charge of the initial outer vortex. The lattice exhibits rotation similar to vortex motion in superfluids. These vortex arrays could be used to implement all-optical photonic crystal fibers. Our results also apply to Bose-Einstein condensates in the presence of three-body elastic interactions.

Non‐linear Signal Processing

“…Stable optical vortices have been observed experimentally in a defocusing Kerr medium [5]. It has also been predicted that stable optical vortices can be generated in materials with a cubic-quintic nonlinearity, where there is a positive n 2 and a negative n 4 [6]. Optical vortices are analogous to the discrete optical vortices observed in superfluids [6,7], which is not surprising since the NLSE can be used to describe both the propagation of optical pulses and the dynamics of superfluids.…”

“…It has also been predicted that stable optical vortices can be generated in materials with a cubic-quintic nonlinearity, where there is a positive n 2 and a negative n 4 [6]. Optical vortices are analogous to the discrete optical vortices observed in superfluids [6,7], which is not surprising since the NLSE can be used to describe both the propagation of optical pulses and the dynamics of superfluids. In addition, it has been shown that the NLSE can be transformed to hydrodynamical equations using the Madelung transformation [8] and that the NLSE exhibits classical turbulence behavior [9].…”

Metaphoric optical computing for fluid dynamics

“…12 Michinel et al 13 and Paz-Alonso et al 14 found that optical propagation in a cubic-quintic nonlinear medium resembles a liquid drop, and optical vortices in such a medium also have fluidlike motions. 15 On the other hand, nonlinear optics has been compared with superfluids and Bose-Einistein condensates, as they can all be described, to varying degrees, by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, 19,20 commonly known as the Gross-Pitaevskii equation in the field of superfluids. 21 Pomeau and Rica suggested that the phenomenon of transition to dissipation in a superflow 22 can be observed in nonlinear diffraction.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Wagner et al first suggested that the nonlinear propagation equation of an optical beam can be recast into equations that resemble the continuity equation and the Bernoulli equation in irrotational fluid dynamics. 1 Coullet et al first coined the term "optical vortices," which shows the analogy between phase singularities in optics and fluid vortices.…”

Dynamics of a paired optical vortex generated by second-harmonic generation

“…In the paper, we will focus our attention on singly-ringed LG 0 modes, and hereafter describe as LG . Since vortices make an important role in various branches of physics, such as fluid mechanics, condensed matter physics, and astrophysics, the study of OVs provides a universal viewpoint in optical physics and thus has attracted fundamental interest as well [6,7]. Of the various fundamental studies, the propagation/interaction dynamics induced by the superposition of the OVs with different charges (composite OVs) have been intensively investigated.…”