Splitting and rotating of optical vortices due to non-circular symmetry in amplitude and phase distributions of host beams

Abstract Discussed is the dynamics of optical vortices carrying multi-topological charges, which are nested in optical envelopes with non-circular symmetric amplitudes and phases. As a result of the non-circular symmetry either in amplitudes or in phases, the vortices can split in pairs from the centers of the host beams. During the splitting process of every constituent vortex, its carried integer charges evolve into fractional ones. Furthermore, the overall rotations of the host optical envelopes are found to happen in the splitting process. The theoretical results may find potential applications in beam shaping and engineering.