title: Collisional dynamics of vortices in light condensates.
abstract: Through numerical simulation, we have studied the nucleation and annihilation of two-dimensional optical vortex solitons hosted in finite size light beams. Our study covers a wide range of angular momentum l> or =1, also referred to as its topological charge. We demonstrate that surface tension of light beams prevents beam filamentation for a certain range of total reflection angles even if the hosted hole splits and decays into several vortices with lower values of l. We also discuss a mechanism for vortex nucleation starting from Gaussian beams that can be used for experimental purposes. Our work adds extra support to the idea that light beams in cubic-quintic nonlinear materials can undergo a phase transition from a photon gas to a liquid of light.
authors.affiliation: Area de Optica, Facultade de Ciencias de Ourense, Universidade de Vigo, As Lagoas s/n, Ourense, ES-32004 Spain.
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Paz-Alonso
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Humberto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Michinel
authors.forename: José R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Salgueiro