Fluid dynamical enstrophy and the number of optical vortices in a paraxial beam

Vortex-bearing optical beams have a tendency to maintain the maximum number of vortices during propagation. This tendency is reminiscent of the concept of enstrophy, which is a conserved quantity in two-dimensional fluid dynamics, and which is given in terms of the vorticity in the fluid. We derive the optical equivalent for the fluid vorticity and show that it represents the optical topological charge density in paraxial beams. It then follows that the optical equivalent of the enstrophy represents the total number of optical vortices on a cross-section of the beam. We then argue that this concept forms an important part of the tendency of paraxial beams to maintain their maximum number of vortices. As part of the derivation we provide a summary of some of the pertinent topological properties of phase functions.