EXPERIMENTAL-OBSERVATION OF FLUID-LIKE MOTION OF OPTICAL VORTICES

We have observed the fluidlike rotation of a pair of identical optical vortices (OV's) as they propagate through free space. Similar to vort ex filaments in a fluid, the initial rotation rate is found to be inve rsely proportional to the squared distance of separation. Owing to unu sually small vortex cores, we obtained rotation rates that were 2 orde rs of magnitude larger than expected for ''conventional'' large core O V's.