Stable Vortex Solitons and Robust Soliton Complexes in Optical Media with Competing Nonlinearities

An overview of recent results in the field of vortex (spinning) solitons and soliton complexes composed of several fundamental (nonspinning) solitons in twoand three-dimensional optical media with competing nonlinearities is presented. It is concluded that multidimensional solitons with intrinsic topological charge are stable provided that their internal size and power (energy) are large enough. The stable vortices are truly robust ones, easily self-trapping from input beams with embedded vorticity. A class of robust soliton complexes in nonlinear media combining self-focusing and self-defocusing optical nonlinearities is introduced. The stability of vortex (spinning) solitons is a generic feature of nonlinear optical media with competing self-focusing and self-defocusing nonlinearities.