Figure 3

Vortex/antivortex pair production. Color maps the z-component of the magnetic field together with contour maps of the current circulation, showing the vortex core. (a) Line V-AV pair production along the direction of motion calculated at \(\eta =0.5\), \(\varepsilon =1.0\) and \(\gamma =0.898\). 2D waves radiated from the central zone of V-AV pair production are apparent. (b) Transverse branching of the topological dipole expanding along the x-axis in an underdamped array calculated at \(\eta =0.1\), \(\varepsilon =1.0\) and \(\gamma =0.579\). (c) Splitting instability for the higher dissipation where vortex/antivortex pairs are generated at the upper and lower tips of the initial vortex (\(\eta =1.0\), \(\varepsilon =1.0\) and \(I=0.99\)). In this case the vortices structure grows in the vertical direction and the radiation wake is not visible.