Instability of higher-order optical phase and polarisation singularities in a homogeneous linear medium

Abstract: We analyse the behaviour of the instability development of the monochromatic beams with higher-order singularities in a homogeneous isotropic linear medium. A comparison with the case of nonlinear media is made, and the possibility of the experiment is discussed.

Keywords: Gaussian beams, wavefront dislocations, polarisation singularities