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arXiv · 2603.09847

Topologically constrained high intensity light propagation in air

A. Goffin·L. Railing·G. Babic·H. M. Milchberg
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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.

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A. Goffin, L. Railing, G. Babic, H. M. Milchberg. 2026-03-10. Topologically constrained high intensity light propagation in air. https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09847

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