Stable spinning optical solitons in three dimensions

Strongly Anisotropic Vortices in Dipolar Quantum Droplets

We construct strongly anisotropic quantum droplets with embedded vorticity in the 3D space, with mutually perpendicular vortex axis and polarization of atomic magnetic moments. Stability of these anisotropic vortex quantum droplets (AVQDs) is verified by means of systematic simulations. Their stability area is identified in the parametric plane of the total atom number and scattering length of the contact interactions. We also construct vortex-antivortex-vortex bound states and find their stability region in the parameter space. The application of a torque perpendicular to the vorticity axis gives rise to robust intrinsic oscillations or rotation of the AVQDs. The effect of three-body losses on the AVQD stability is considered too. The results show that the AVQDs can retain the topological structure (vorticity) for a sufficiently long time if the scattering length exceeds a critical value.

Three-dimensional solitons in Rydberg-dressed cold atomic gases with spin-orbit coupling

We present numerical results for three-dimensional (3D) solitons with symmetries of the semi-vortex (SV) and mixed-mode (MM) types, which can be created in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates of Rydberg atoms under the action of the spin-orbit coupling (SOC). By means of systematic numerical computations, we demonstrate that the interplay of SOC and long-range spherically symmetric Rydberg interactions stabilize the 3D solitons, improving their resistance to collapse. We find how the stability range depends on the strengths of the SOC and Rydberg interactions and the soft-core atomic radius.

Robust Three-Dimensional High-Order Solitons and Breathers in Driven Dissipative Systems: A Kerr Cavity Realization

We present a general approach to excite robust dissipative three-dimensional and high-order solitons and breathers in passively driven nonlinear cavities. Our findings are illustrated in the paradigmatic example provided by an optical Kerr cavity with diffraction and anomalous dispersion, with the addition of an attractive three-dimensional parabolic potential. The potential breaks the translational symmetry along all directions, and impacts the system in a qualitatively unexpected manner: three-dimensional solitons, or light bullets, are the only existing and stable states for a given set of parameters. This property is extremely rare, if not unknown, in passive nonlinear systems. As a result, the excitation of the cavity with any input field leads to the deterministic formation of a target soliton or breather, with a spatiotemporal profile that unambiguously corresponds to the given cavity and pumping conditions. In addition, the tuning of the potential width along the temporal direction results in the existence of a plethora of stable asymmetric solitons. Our results may provide a solid route toward the observation of dissipative light bullets and three-dimensional breathers.

Vortex Solitons in Quasi-Phase-Matched Photonic Crystals

We report solutions for stable compound solitons in a three-dimensional quasi-phase-matched photonic crystal with the quadratic (χ^{(2)}) nonlinearity. The photonic crystal is introduced with a checkerboard structure, which can be realized by means of the available technology. The solitons are built as four-peak vortex modes of two types, rhombuses and squares (intersite- and onsite-centered self-trapped states, respectively). Their stability areas are identified in the system's parametric space (rhombuses occupy an essentially broader stability domain), while all bright vortex solitons are subject to strong azimuthal instability in uniform χ^{(2)} media. Possibilities for experimental realization of the solitons are outlined.

Stability limits for modes held in alternating trapping-expulsive potentials

We elaborate a scheme of trapping-expulsion management (TEM), in the form of the quadratic potential periodically switching between confinement and expulsion, as a means of stabilization of two-dimensional dynamical states against the backdrop of the critical collapse driven by the cubic self-attraction with strength g. The TEM scheme may be implemented, as spatially or temporally periodic modulations, in optics or BEC, respectively. The consideration is carried out by dint of numerical simulations and variational approximation (VA). In terms of the VA, the dynamics amounts to a nonlinear Ermakov equation, which, in turn, is tantamount to a linear Mathieu equation. Stability boundaries are found as functions of g and parameters of the periodic modulation of the trapping potential. Below the usual collapse threshold, which is known, in the numerical form, as g<g_{c}^{(num)}≈5.85 (in the standard notation), the stability is limited by the onset of the parametric resonance. This stability limit, including the setup with the self-repulsive sign of the cubic term (g<0), is accurately predicted by the VA. At g>g_{c}^{(num)}, the collapse threshold is found with the help of full numerical simulations. The relative increase of g_{c} above g_{c}^{(num)} is ≈1.5%. It is a meaningful result, even if its size is small, because the collapse threshold is a universal constant which is difficult to change.

Optical Solitons and Vortices in Fractional Media: A Mini-Review of Recent Results

The article produces a brief review of some recent results which predict stable propagation of solitons and solitary vortices in models based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) including fractional one-dimensional or two-dimensional diffraction and cubic or cubic-quintic nonlinear terms, as well as linear potentials. The fractional diffraction is represented by fractional-order spatial derivatives of the Riesz type, defined in terms of the direct and inverse Fourier transform. In this form, it can be realized by spatial-domain light propagation in optical setups with a specially devised combination of mirrors, lenses, and phase masks. The results presented in the article were chiefly obtained in a numerical form. Some analytical findings are included too, in particular, for fast moving solitons and the results produced by the variational approximation. Moreover, dissipative solitons are briefly considered, which are governed by the fractional complex Ginzburg–Landau equation.

Vector spatiotemporal solitons in cold atomic gases with linear and nonlinear PT symmetric potentials

Realizing vector spatiotemporal solitons that are stable in high dimensions is a long-standing goal in the study of nonlinear optical physics. Here, a scheme is proposed to generate three-dimensional (3D) vector spatiotemporal solitons in a cold atomic system with linear and nonlinear parity-time (PT) potentials by utilizing electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We investigate the existence and stability of these vector 3D semilunar solitons (SSs) and vortex solitons (VSs) supported by the linear and nonlinear PT potentials. The results show that these solitons have extremely low generation power and very slow propagation velocity and can stably propagate with constant total energy in this system. The frontal head-on collisions of two vector solitons feature quasi-elastic collisions. The dynamics characteristics of these solitons depend on the linear and nonlinear PT-symmetric potential parameters, in particular, the imaginary part of PT potentials. Our study provides a new route for manipulating high-dimensional nonlinear vector optical signals via the controlled optical linear and nonlinear potentials in cold atomic gases.

Formation and stability of vortex solitons in nematic liquid crystals

We study the propagation dynamics of bright optical vortex solitons in nematic liquid crystals with a nonlocal reorientational nonlinear response. We investigate the role of optical birefringence on the stability of these solitons. In agreement with recent experimental observations, we show that the birefringence-induced astigmatism can eventually destabilize these vortex solitons. However, for low and moderate birefringence, vortex solitons can propagate stably over experimentally relevant distances.

Singular solitons

We demonstrate that the commonly known concept which treats solitons as nonsingular solutions produced by the interplay of nonlinear self-attraction and linear dispersion may be extended to include modes with a relatively weak singularity at the central point, which keeps their integral norm convergent. Such states are generated by self-repulsion, which should be strong enough, represented by septimal, quintic, and usual cubic terms in the framework of the one-, two-, and three-dimensional (1D, 2D, and 3D) nonlinear Schrödinger equations (NLSEs), respectively. Although such solutions seem counterintuitive, we demonstrate that they admit a straightforward interpretation as a result of screening of an additionally introduced attractive δ-functional potential by the defocusing nonlinearity. The strength ("bare charge") of the attractive potential is infinite in 1D, finite in 2D, and vanishingly small in 3D. Analytical asymptotics of the singular solitons at small and large distances are found, entire shapes of the solitons being produced in a numerical form. Complete stability of the singular modes is accurately predicted by the anti-Vakhitov-Kolokolov criterion (under the assumption that it applies to the model), as verified by means of numerical methods. In 2D, the NLSE with a quintic self-focusing term admits singular-soliton solutions with intrinsic vorticity too, but they are fully unstable. We also mention that dissipative singular solitons can be produced by the model with a complex coefficient in front of the nonlinear term.

Three-dimensional chirped Airy Complex-variable-function Gaussian vortex wave packets in a strongly nonlocal nonlinear medium

Three-dimensional chirped Airy Complex-variable-function Gaussian vortex (CACGV) wave packets in a strongly nonlocal nonlinear medium (SNNM) are studied. By varying the distribution parameter, CACGV wave packets can rotate stably in a SNNM in different forms, including dipoles, elliptic vortices, and doughnuts. Numerical simulation results for the CACGV wave packets agree well with theoretical analysis results under zero perturbation. The Poynting vector related to the physics of the rotation phenomenon and the angular momentum as a torque corresponding to the force are also presented. Finally, the radiation forces of CACGV wave packets acting on a nanoparticle in a SNNM are discussed.

Asymptotic dynamics of three-dimensional bipolar ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in an array of semiconductor carbon nanotubes

We study the propagation of three-dimensional bipolar ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in an array of semiconductor carbon nanotubes at times much longer than the pulse duration, yet still shorter than the relaxation time in the system. The interaction of the electromagnetic field with the electronic subsystem of the medium is described by means of Maxwell's equations, taking into account the field inhomogeneity along the nanotube axis beyond the approximation of slowly varying amplitudes and phases. A model is proposed for the analysis of the dynamics of an electromagnetic pulse in the form of an effective equation for the vector potential of the field. Our numerical analysis demonstrates the possibility of a satisfactory description of the evolution of the pulse field at large times by means of a three-dimensional generalization of the sine-Gordon and double sine-Gordon equations.

Robust Ultrashort Light Bullets in Strongly Twisted Waveguide Arrays

We introduce a new class of stable light bullets that form in twisted waveguide arrays pumped with ultrashort pulses, where twisting offers a powerful knob to tune the properties of localized states. We find that, above a critical twist, three-dimensional wave packets are unambiguously stabilized, with no minimum energy threshold. As a consequence, when the higher-order perturbations that accompany ultrashort pulse propagation are at play, the bullets dynamically adjust and sweep along stable branches. Therefore, they are predicted to feature an unprecedented experimental robustness.

Extreme and Topological Dissipative Solitons with Structured Matter and Structured Light

Structuring of matter with nanoobjects allows one to generate soliton-like light bundles with extreme characteristics-temporal duration and spatial dimensions. On the other hand, structuring of light gives the possibility to form light bundles with complicated internal structure; their topology could be used for information coding similar to that in self-replicating RNA molecules carrying genetic code. Here we review the both variants of structuring. In the first variant, we consider a linear molecular chain and organic film interacting resonantly with laser radiation. Demonstrated are optical bistability, switching waves, and dissipative solitons, whose sizes for molecular J-aggregates can reach the nanometer range. We also discuss some theoretical approaches to take into account multi-particle interaction and correlations between molecules. In the second variant, light structuring in large-size laser medium with saturable amplification and absorption is achieved by preparation of the initial field distribution with a number of closed and unclosed vortex lines where the field vanishes. Various types of topological solitons, parameter domains of their stability, and transformation of the solitons with slow variation of the scheme parameters are presented.

Purely Kerr nonlinear model admitting flat-top solitons

We elaborate one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) models of media with self-repulsive cubic nonlinearity, whose local strength is subject to spatial modulation that admits the existence of flat-top solitons of various types, including fundamental ones, 1D multipoles, and 2D vortices. Previously, solitons of this type were only produced by models with competing nonlinearities. The present setting may be implemented in optics and Bose-Einstein condensates. The 1D version gives rise to an exact analytical solution for stable flat-top solitons, and generic families may be predicted by means of the Thomas-Fermi approximation. Stability of the obtained flat-top solitons is analyzed by means of the linear-stability analysis and direct simulations. Fundamental solitons and 1D multipoles with k=1 and 2 nodes, as well as vortices with winding number m=1, are completely stable. For multipoles with k≥3 and vortices with m≥2, alternating stripes of stability and instability are identified in their parameter spaces.

Two-Dimensional Vortex Solitons in Spin-Orbit-Coupled Dipolar Bose–Einstein Condensates

Solitons are self-trapped modes existing in various nonlinear systems. Creating stable solitons in two- and three-dimensional settings is a challenging goal in various branches of physics. Several methods have been developed theoretically and experimentally to achieve this, but few of them can support stable multi-dimensional solitons in free space. Recently, a new scheme using spin-orbit-coupling (SOC) has been proposed to create stable 2D solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). This paper reviews recent theoretical progress on creating stable 2D solitons in spinor dipolar BEC with SOC, combined with long-range dipole-dipole interaction (DDI), Zeeman splitting (ZS) and contact nonlinearity, in free space. The continuous family of stable symmetric vortex solitons (SVS), asymmetric vortex solitons (AVS), as well as gap solitons (GS) is found via different settings. Their existence and stability conditions are summarized and discussed in detail. The mobility properties of these types of solitons are also addressed. For SVS, a potential method to manipulate its shape and mobility is investigated. These results are supposed to enrich our understanding of 2D solitons and help create multi-dimensional solitons in experiments.

Interactions of three-dimensional solitons in the cubic-quintic model

We report results of a systematic numerical analysis of interactions between three-dimensional (3D) fundamental solitons, performed in the framework of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) with the cubic-quintic (CQ) nonlinearity, combining the self-focusing and defocusing terms. The 3D NLSE with the CQ terms may be realized in terms of spatiotemporal propagation of light in nonlinear optical media, and in Bose-Einstein condensates, provided that losses may be neglected. The first part of the work addresses interactions between identical fundamental solitons, with phase shift φ between them, separated by a finite distance in the free space. The outcome strongly changes with the variation of φ: in-phase solitons with φ = 0, or with sufficiently small φ, merge into a single fundamental soliton, with weak residual oscillations in it (in contrast to the merger into a strongly oscillating breather, which is exhibited by the 1D version of the same setting), while the choice of φ = π leads to fast separation between mutually repelling solitons. At intermediate values of φ, such as φ = π/2, the interaction is repulsive too, breaking the symmetry between the initially identical fundamental solitons, there appearing two solitons with different total energies (norms). The symmetry-breaking effect is qualitatively explained, similar to how it was done previously for 1D solitons. In the second part of the work, a pair of fundamental solitons trapped in a 2D potential is considered. It is demonstrated that they may form a slowly rotating robust "molecule," if initial kicks are applied to them in opposite directions, perpendicular to the line connecting their centers.

Stable vortex soliton in nonlocal media with orientational nonlinearity

We report on the first experimental observation of stable vortex solitons in nematic liquid crystals with nonlocal nonlinear reorientational response. We show how these nonlinear vortex beams can be formed and confined in extraordinary optical waves by employing the cell with no lateral boundary conditions and the application of an external magnetic field that effectively controls the molecular direction and propagation of the self-trapped beams. We also find that these vortex solitons can be generated in certain ranges of the input beam power.

Planar light bullets under conditions of second-harmonic generation

We study solutions to second-harmonic-generation equations in two-dimensional media with anomalous dispersion. The analytical solution is obtained in an approximate form of the planar spatiotemporal two-component soliton by means of the averaged Lagrangian method. It is shown that a decrease in the amplitudes of both soliton components and an increase in the value of the transverse coordinate are accompanied by an increase in their temporal duration. Within this variational approach, we have managed to find a stability criterion for the light bullet and a period of oscillations of soliton parameters. Then, we use the obtained form as an initial configuration to carry out the direct numerical simulation of soliton dynamics. We demonstrate stable propagation of spatiotemporal solitons undergoing small oscillations predicted analytically for a long distance. The formation of a two-component light bullet is shown when we launch a pulse only at the fundamental frequency. In addition, we investigate the phase and group-velocity mismatch effects on the propagation of pulses.

Dynamics of necklace beams in nonlinear colloidal suspensions

Recently, we have predicted that the modulation instability of optical vortex solitons propagating in nonlinear colloidal suspensions with exponential saturable nonlinearity leads to formation of necklace beams (NBs). Here, we investigate the dynamics of NB formation and propagation, and demonstrate a variety of optical beam structures emerging upon vortex beam propagation in engineered nonlinear colloidal medium. In particular, we show that the distance at which the NB is formed depends on the input power of the vortex beam. Moreover, we show that the NB trajectories are not necessarily tangent to the initial vortex ring, and that their velocities have components stemming both from the beam diffraction and from the beam orbital angular momentum. We also demonstrate the generation of elliptical rotating solitons and analyze the influence of losses on their propagation. Finally, we investigate the conservation of the orbital angular momentum in necklace and elliptical rotating beams. Our studies, performed in ideal lossless media and in realistic colloidal suspensions with losses, provide a detailed description of NB dynamics, and may be useful in analysis of light propagation in highly scattering colloids and biological samples.

Light bullets in coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with variable coefficients and a trapping potential

We analyze three-dimensional (3D) vector solitary waves in a system of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with spatially modulated diffraction and nonlinearity, under action of a composite self-consistent trapping potential. Exact vector solitary waves, or light bullets (LBs), are found using the self-similarity method. The stability of vortex 3D LB pairs is examined by direct numerical simulations; the results show that only low-order vortex soliton pairs with the mode parameter values n ≤ 1, l ≤ 1 and m = 0 can be supported by the spatially modulated interaction in the composite trap. Higher-order LBs are found unstable over prolonged distances.

Dynamics of vortex-antivortex pairs and rarefaction pulses in liquid light

We present a numerical study of the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation in two transverse dimensions, relevant for the propagation of light in certain exotic media. A well-known feature of the model is the existence of flat-top bright solitons of fixed intensity, whose dynamics resembles the physics of a liquid. They support traveling wave solutions, consisting of rarefaction pulses and vortex-antivortex pairs. In this work, we demonstrate how the vortex-antivortex pairs can be generated in bright soliton collisions displaying destructive interference followed by a snake instability. We then discuss the collisional dynamics of the dark excitations for different initial conditions. We describe a number of distinct phenomena including vortex exchange modes, quasielastic flyby scattering, solitonlike crossing, fully inelastic collisions, and rarefaction pulse merging.

Elastic collision and molecule formation of spatiotemporal light bullets in a cubic-quintic nonlinear medium

We consider the statics and dynamics of a stable, mobile three-dimensional (3D) spatiotemporal light bullet in a cubic-quintic nonlinear medium with a focusing cubic nonlinearity above a critical value and any defocusing quintic nonlinearity. The 3D light bullet can propagate with a constant velocity in any direction. Stability of the light bullet under a small perturbation is established numerically. We consider frontal collision between two light bullets with different relative velocities. At large velocities the collision is elastic with the bullets emerge after collision with practically no distortion. At small velocities two bullets coalesce to form a bullet molecule. At a small range of intermediate velocities the localized bullets could form a single entity which expands indefinitely, leading to a destruction of the bullets after collision. The present study is based on an analytic Lagrange variational approximation and a full numerical solution of the 3D nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

Precession and nutation dynamics of nonlinearly coupled non-coaxial three-dimensional matter wave vortices

Nonlinearity is the driving force for numerous important effects in nature typically showing transitions between different regimes, regular, chaotic or catastrophic behavior. Localized nonlinear modes have been the focus of intense research in areas such as fluid and gas dynamics, photonics, atomic and solid state physics etc. Due to the richness of the behavior of nonlinear systems and due to the severe numerical demands of accurate three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations presently only little knowledge is available on the dynamics of complex nonlinear modes in 3D. Here, we investigate the dynamics of 3D non-coaxial matter wave vortices that are trapped in a parabolic potential and interact via a repulsive nonlinearity. Our numerical simulations demonstrate the existence of an unexpected and fascinating nonlinear regime that starts immediately when the nonlinearity is switched-on and is characterized by a smooth dynamics representing torque-free precession with nutations. The reported motion is proven to be robust regarding various effects such as the number of particles, dissipation and trap deformations and thus should be observable in suitably designed experiments. Since our theoretical approach, i.e., coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations, is quite generic, we expect that the obtained novel dynamical behavior should also exist in other nonlinear systems.

Stable Solitons in Three Dimensional Free Space without the Ground State: Self-Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensates with Spin-Orbit Coupling

By means of variational methods and systematic numerical analysis, we demonstrate the existence of metastable solitons in three dimensional (3D) free space, in the context of binary atomic condensates combining contact self-attraction and spin-orbit coupling, which can be engineered by available experimental techniques. Depending on the relative strength of the intra- and intercomponent attraction, the stable solitons feature a semivortex or mixed-mode structure. In spite of the fact that the local cubic self-attraction gives rise to the supercritical collapse in 3D, and hence the setting produces no true ground state, the solitons are stable against small perturbations, motion, and collisions.

Two-dimensional solitons in conservative and parity-time-symmetric triple-core waveguides with cubic-quintic nonlinearity

We analyze a system of three two-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equations coupled by linear terms and with the cubic-quintic (focusing-defocusing) nonlinearity. We consider two versions of the model: conservative and parity-time (PT) symmetric. These models describe triple-core nonlinear optical waveguides, with balanced gain and losses in the PT-symmetric case. We obtain families of soliton solutions and discuss their stability. The latter study is performed using a linear stability analysis and checked with direct numerical simulations of the evolutional system of equations. Stable solitons are found in the conservative and PT-symmetric cases. Interactions and collisions between the conservative and PT-symmetric solitons are briefly investigated, as well.

Creation of vortices by torque in multidimensional media with inhomogeneous defocusing nonlinearity

Recently, a new class of nonlinear systems was introduced, in which the self-trapping of fundamental and vortical localized modes in space of dimension D is supported by cubic self-repulsion with a strength growing as a function of the distance from the center, r, at any rate faster that r^D. These systems support robust 2D and 3D modes which either do not exist or are unstable in other nonlinear systems. Here we demonstrate a possibility to create solitary vortices in this setting by applying a phase-imprinting torque to the ground state. Initially, a strong torque completely destroys the ground state. However, contrary to usual systems, where the destruction is irreversible, the present ones demonstrate a rapid restabilization and the creation of one or several shifted vortices orbiting the center. For the sake of comparison, we show analytically that, in the linear system with a 3D trapping potential, the action of a torque on the ground state is inefficient and creates only even-vorticity states with a small probability.

Stabilization of solitons under competing nonlinearities by external potentials

We report results of the analysis for families of one-dimensional (1D) trapped solitons, created by competing self-focusing (SF) quintic and self-defocusing (SDF) cubic nonlinear terms. Two trapping potentials are considered, the harmonic-oscillator (HO) and delta-functional ones. The models apply to optical solitons in colloidal waveguides and other photonic media, and to matter-wave solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates loaded into a quasi-1D trap. For the HO potential, the results are obtained in an approximate form, using the variational and Thomas-Fermi approximations, and in a full numerical form, including the ground state and the first antisymmetric excited one. For the delta-functional attractive potential, the results are produced in a fully analytical form, and verified by means of numerical methods. Both exponentially localized solitons and weakly localized trapped modes are found for the delta-functional potential. The most essential conclusions concern the applicability of competing Vakhitov-Kolokolov (VK) and anti-VK criteria to the identification of the stability of solitons created under the action of the competing SF and SDF terms.

Drag force in bimodal cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation

We consider a system of two cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equations in two dimensions, coupled by repulsive cubic terms. We analyze situations in which a probe lump of one of the modes is surrounded by a fluid of the other one and analyze their interaction. We find a realization of D'Alembert's paradox for small velocities and nontrivial drag forces for larger ones. We present numerical analysis including the search of static and traveling form-preserving solutions along with simulations of the dynamical evolution in some representative examples.

Coherent cavitation in the liquid of light

We study the cubic- (focusing-)quintic (defocusing) nonlinear Schrödinger equation in two transverse dimensions. We discuss a family of stationary traveling waves, including rarefaction pulses and vortex-antivortex pairs, in a background of critical amplitude. We show that these rarefaction pulses can be generated inside a flattop soliton when a smaller bright soliton collides with it. The fate of the evolution strongly depends on the relative phase of the solitons. Among several possibilities, we find that the dark pulse can reemerge as a bright soliton.

Soliton gyroscopes in media with spatially growing repulsive nonlinearity

We find that the recently introduced model of self-trapping supported by a spatially growing strength of a repulsive nonlinearity gives rise to robust vortex-soliton tori, i.e., three-dimensional vortex solitons, with topological charges S≥1. The family with S=1 is completely stable, while the one with S=2 has alternating regions of stability and instability. The families are nearly exactly reproduced in an analytical form by the Thomas-Fermi approximation. Unstable states with S=2 and 3 split into persistently rotating pairs or triangles of unitary vortices. Application of a moderate torque to the vortex torus initiates a persistent precession mode, with the torus' axle moving along a conical surface. A strong torque heavily deforms the vortex solitons, but, nonetheless, they restore themselves with the axle oriented according to the vectorial addition of angular momenta.

Stable cosmic vortons

We present solutions in the gauged U(1)×U(1) model of Witten describing vortons-spinning flux loops stabilized against contraction by the centrifugal force. Vortons were heuristically described many years ago; however, the corresponding field theory solutions were not obtained and so the stability issue remained open. We construct explicitly a family of stationary vortons characterized by their charge and angular momentum. Most of them are unstable and break in pieces when perturbed. However, thick vortons with a small radius preserve their form in the 3+1 nonlinear dynamical evolution. This gives the first ever evidence of stable vortons and impacts several branches of physics where they could potentially exist. These range from cosmology, since vortons could perhaps contribute to dark matter, to QCD and condensed matter physics.

Vortex solitons in defocusing media with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearity

The analytical two- and three-dimensional vortex solitons with arbitrary values of vorticity are constructed in the cubic defocusing media with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearity. The values of the nonlinearity coefficients are zero near the center and increase rapidly toward the periphery. In addition to the analytical ones, a number of vortex solitons are found numerically. It is shown that analytical vortex solitons are stable. Also, the stability region of the numerically constructed vortex solitons are given.

Intense dynamic bullets in a periodic lattice

Femtosecond filamentation inside a periodic lattice in air is numerically shown to form intense dynamic bullets. The long propagation distance of the bullet structure is primarily attributed to the effect of the lattice that regulates the competition between linear and nonlinear spatiotemporal effects in the region of normal dispersion.

Rydberg-induced solitons: three-dimensional self-trapping of matter waves

We propose a scheme for the creation of stable three-dimensional bright solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates, i.e., the matter-wave analog of so-called spatiotemporal "light bullets." Off-resonant dressing to Rydberg nD states is shown to provide nonlocal attractive interactions, leading to self-trapping of mesoscopic atomic clouds by a collective excitation of a Rydberg atom pair. We present detailed potential calculations and demonstrate the existence of stable solitons under realistic experimental conditions by means of numerical simulations.

Pressure, surface tension, and dripping of self-trapped laser beams

We show that a laser beam which propagates through an optical medium with Kerr (focusing) and higher order (defocusing) nonlinearities displays pressure and surface-tension properties yielding capillarity and dripping effects totally analogous to usual liquid droplets. The system is reinterpreted in terms of a thermodynamic grand potential, allowing for the computation of the pressure and surface tension beyond the usual hydrodynamical approach based on Madelung transformation and the analogy with the Euler equation. We then show both analytically and numerically that the stationary soliton states of such a light system satisfy the Young-Laplace equation and that the dynamical evolution through a capillary is described by the same law that governs the growth of droplets in an ordinary liquid system.

Light bullets in Bessel optical lattices with spatially modulated nonlinearity

We address the stability of light bullets supported by Bessel optical lattices with out-of-phase modulation of the linear and nonlinear refractive indices. We show that spatial modulation of the nonlinearity significantly modifies the shapes and stability domains of the light bullets. The addressed bullets can be stable, provided that the peak intensity does not exceed a critical value. We show that the width of the stability domain in terms of the propagation constant may be controlled by varying the nonlinearity modulation depth. In particular, we show that the maximum energy of the stable bullets grows with increasing nonlinearity modulation depth.

Spatiotemporal nonlinear optical self-similarity in three dimensions

We introduce spatiotemporally expanding self-similar light bullets and vortex torus solutions to the (3+1)D nonlinear Schrödinger equation with gain. In the absence of an initial vorticity, we demonstrate an expanding solution with a parabolic intensity profile and linear spatiotemporal chirp. With a nonzero initial vorticity, expanding vortex torus solutions with a centrally embedded phase singularity are found. Such expanding self-similar structures suggest a route towards a new regime of collapse-free spatiotemporal nonlinear optics.

Light bullets in optical tandems

We address the concept of three-dimensional light bullet formation in structures where nonlinearity and dispersion are contributed by different materials, including metamaterials, which are used at their best to create suitable conditions where bullets can form. The particular geometry considered here consists of alternating rings made of highly dispersive but weakly nonlinear media and strongly nonlinear but weakly dispersive media. We show that light bullets form for a wide range of parameters.

Collisions between counter-rotating solitary vortices in the three-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equation

We report results of collisions between coaxial vortex solitons with topological charges +/-S in the complex cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation. With the increase of the collision momentum, merger of the vortices into one or two dipole or quadrupole clusters of fundamental solitons (for S=1 and 2, respectively) is followed by the appearance of pairs of counter-rotating "unfinished vortices," in combination with a soliton cluster or without it. Finally, the collisions become elastic. The clusters generated by the collisions are very robust, while the "unfinished vortices," eventually split into soliton pairs.

Two-photon-induced excited-state nonlinearities

We report a theoretical investigation of laser-pulse-duration dependence of excited-state nonlinearities induced by two-photon absorption (2PA). We investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of the transmitted pulses caused by 2PA-induced excited-state absorption, which strongly depends on laser pulse duration. By taking into account 2PA cross-section, excited-state photophysical properties, as well as laser pulse duration, we quantitatively determine the effective fifth-order nonlinearities caused by excited-state absorption and refraction. The results are capable of predicting the magnitude of 2PA-induced excited-state nonlinearities on the time scales where laser pulse duration is less than or comparable to the lifetime of 2PA-induced excited states. We also develop Z-scan theories for quickly yet unambiguously estimation of 2PA coefficient, third-order nonlinear refraction index, and excited-state absorption and refraction cross-sections.

Eigenvalue cutoff in the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Using theoretical arguments, we prove the numerically well-known fact that the eigenvalues of all localized stationary solutions of the cubic-quintic (2+1) -dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation exhibit an upper cutoff value. The existence of the cutoff is inferred using Gagliardo-Nirenberg and Hölder inequalities together with Pohozaev identities. We also show that, in the limit of eigenvalues close to zero, the eigenstates of the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation behave similarly to those of the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

Three-dimensional vortex solitons in quasi-two-dimensional lattices

We consider the three-dimensional (3D) Gross-Pitaevskii or nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a quasi-2D square-lattice potential (which corresponds to the optical lattice trapping a self-attractive Bose-Einstein condensate, or, in some approximation, to a photonic-crystal fiber, in terms of nonlinear optics). Stable 3D solitons, with embedded vorticity S=1 and 2, are found by means of the variational approximation and in a numerical form. They are built, basically, as sets of four fundamental solitons forming a rhombus, with phase shifts piS2 between adjacent sites, and an empty site in the middle. The results demonstrate two species of stable 3D solitons, which were not studied before, viz., localized vortices ("spinning light bullets," in terms of optics) with S>1 , and vortex solitons (with any S not equal 0 ) supported by a lattice in the 3D space. Typical scenarios of instability development (collapse or decay) of unstable localized vortices are identified too.

Nonlinearly controlled angular momentum of soliton clusters

We demonstrate an original approach, to the best of our knowledge, to acquire nonlinear control over the angular momentum of a cluster of solitary waves. We show that the angular momentum can be adjusted by acting on the global excitation of the system. The effect is verified in liquid crystals by observing power-dependent rotation of a two-soliton cluster.

Three-dimensional vortex solitons in self-defocusing media

We demonstrate that families of vortex solitons are possible in a bidispersive three-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation. These solutions can be considered as extensions of two-dimensional dark vortex solitons which, along the third dimension, remain localized due to the interplay between dispersion and nonlinearity. Such vortex solitons can be observed in optical media with normal dispersion, normal diffraction, and defocusing nonlinearity.

Hole-vortex solitons

Three-dimensional two-component solitons, propagating in long-short wave resonance mode, are predicted. If the spectrum of the short-wave component lies in the area of normal group velocity dispersion, these solitons have transverse structure in the form of hole-vortex field defects on an infinite background. In the opposite case two-component "bullets" or the "bright" vortex and the "bullet" with a hole in the center can exist. The stability region of the considered objects is estimated on the basis of a variational approach. As a concrete physical model we consider the propagation of electromagnetic pulses in a uniaxial crystal. Here the ordinary component of the pulse is the short wave, and its extraordinary component is the long wave.

Stable three-dimensional optical solitons supported by competing quadratic and self-focusing cubic nonlinearities

We show that the quadratic (chi(2)) interaction of fundamental and second harmonics in a bulk dispersive medium, combined with self-focusing cubic (chi(3)) nonlinearity, give rise to stable three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons (STSs), despite the possibility of the supercritical collapse, induced by the chi(3) nonlinearity. At exact phase matching (beta = 0) , the STSs are stable for energies from zero up to a certain maximum value, while for beta not equal 0 the solitons are stable in energy intervals between finite limits.

Stable solitons of even and odd parities supported by competing nonlocal nonlinearities

We introduce a one-dimensional phenomenological model of a nonlocal medium featuring focusing cubic and defocusing quintic nonlocal optical nonlinearities. By means of numerical methods, we find families of solitons of two types, even-parity (fundamental) and dipole-mode (odd-parity) ones. Stability of the solitons is explored by means of computation of eigenvalues associated with modes of small perturbations, and tested in direct simulations. We find that the stability of the fundamental solitons strictly follows the Vakhitov-Kolokolov criterion, whereas the dipole solitons can be destabilized through a Hamiltonian-Hopf bifurcation. The solitons of both types may be stable in the nonlocal model with only quintic self-attractive nonlinearity, in contrast with the instability of all solitons in the local version of the quintic model.

Stable vortex tori in the three-dimensional cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation

We demonstrate the existence of stable toroidal dissipative solitons with the inner phase field in the form of rotating spirals, corresponding to vorticity S=0, 1, and 2, in the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with the cubic-quintic nonlinearity. The stable solitons easily self-trap from pulses with embedded vorticity. The stability is corroborated by accurate computation of growth rates for perturbation eigenmodes. The results provide the first example of stable vortex tori in a 3D dissipative medium, as well as the first example of higher-order tori (with S=2) in any nonlinear medium. It is found that all stable vortical solitons coexist in a large domain of the parameter space; in smaller regions, there coexist stable solitons with either S=0 and S=1, or S=1 and S=2.

Three-dimensional spatiotemporal optical solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media

We demonstrate the existence of stable three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons (STSs) in media with a nonlocal cubic nonlinearity. Fundamental (nonspinning) STSs forming one-parameter families are stable if their propagation constant exceeds a certain critical value that is inversely proportional to the range of nonlocality of nonlinear response. All spinning three-dimensional STSs are found to be unstable.

Turning light into a liquid via atomic coherence

We study a four-level atomic system with electromagnetically induced transparency with giant chi(3) and chi(5) susceptibilities of opposite signs. This system will allow us to obtain multidimensional solitons and light condensates with surface tension properties analogous to those of usual liquids.