Topologically constrained high intensity light propagation in air

TL;DR

This paper experimentally demonstrates how spatiotemporal optical vortices influence long-range atmospheric filamentation of high-power laser pulses, revealing topologically constrained defect dynamics that modulate energy deposition and pulse structure.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of topologically constrained defect dynamics in atmospheric filamentation driven by spatiotemporal optical vortices, a novel understanding of nonlinear wave propagation.

Findings

Generation of toroidal STOV pairs with opposite topological charges during filamentation.

Periodic energy deposition peaks along the propagation path.

Pulse envelope modulated into a temporal intensity comb.

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate how spatiotemporal optical vortices (STOVs) control long-range atmospheric filamentation of intense laser pulses. High-power pulses long enough to overlap with the delayed rotational nonlinearity of air molecules undergo periodic collapse arrest events, each of which generates toroidal STOV pairs with +/- topological charge that separate and accumulate into increasingly squeezed arrays of +1 charges at the front of the pulse and -1 charges at the back. These dynamics manifest as periodic energy deposition peaks along the propagation path and a pulse envelope modulated into a temporal intensity comb. Filamentation in this regime can be understood in terms of self-organized, topologically constrained defect dynamics embedded within nonlinear wave propagation.