# Vorticity and the birth of optical vortices

## TL;DR

This paper explores how vorticity, a concept from fluid mechanics, can be used to understand the formation and evolution of optical vortices generated by a spiral phase plate.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel application of vorticity analysis to study the birth and development of optical vortices in optics.

## Key findings

- Vorticity effectively tracks optical vortex formation.
- Optical vortices originate at specific points related to vorticity.
- The method provides new insights into vortex dynamics.

## Abstract

We exploit the vorticity, familiar from fluid mechanics and the theory of superfluids, as a tool to track the birth and subsequent development of optical vortices at a spiral phase plate.