Measurement of nonequilibrium vortex propagation dynamics in a nonlinear medium

We observe and measure the nonequilibrium dynamics of optical vortices as a function of propagation distance through a nonlinear medium. The precession of a tilted-core vortex is quantified as is vortex-core sharpening, where the infinite width of a linear core subsequently shrinks and approaches the healing length of this nonlinear optical fluid. Experiments are performed with a variable-length nonlinear medium: a nonlinear fluid in a tank with an output window on a translating tube. This provides control over the distance the light propagates in the fluid and allows for the measurement of the dynamics throughout the entire propagation range. Results are compared to the predictions of a computational simulator to find the equivalent dimensionless nonlinear coefficient.