Observation of the Dynamical Inversion of the Topological Charge of an Optical Vortex

We report what is believed to be the first detailed experimental observation of the dynamic inversion of the topological charge of an optical vortex under free-space propagation. The vortex self-transformation occurs through continuous deformation of the noncanonical strength of the corresponding screw wave front dislocation, and is mediated by the occurrence of an extremely sharp turn in a Berry vortex trajectory, which observed at a Freund critical foliation appears as an edge-line dislocation orthogonal to the propagation direction, at a crucial point of the light evolution.