Splitting of an edge dislocation by a vortex emergent from a nonparaxial beam

The splitting of a linear or circular edge dislocation by a vortex nested in a nonparaxial Gaussian beam is studied. It is found that the edge dislocations are unstable and vanish, while new vortices may take place and the total topological charge may change with propagation. The location of the vortex, the intercept and slope of the edge dislocation, or the location and radius of the circular edge dislocation in the initial beam may affect the number and positions of vortices occurring in the field. The results are compared with previous works.