Dynamics of an intense short laser pulse with a phase singularity, propagating in an underdense cold plasma, is investigated. Such a pulse can propagate as a vortex soliton in a self-created channel. It is shown that vortices with the topological charge $m=1,2\mathrm{}$ (and a corresponding angular momentum) are unstable against symmetry-breaking perturbations; the breakup of the original vortex leads to the formation of stable spatial solitons that steadily fly away tangentially from the initial ring of vortex distribution.

• Received 20 August 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.65.046415