Control of topology of two-dimensional solitons in a laser with saturable absorption by means of a coherent holding radiation

We propose a simple method to control the topology of laser vortex solitons and their complexes in a wide-aperture laser with saturable absorption by means of weak coherent holding radiation. The holding radiation acting on initial “free” vortex solitons induces the appearance of new peripheral vortices and the splitting of multiple central vortices, as well as reconfiguration of energy flow topology. A wide variety of these stable vortex structures makes the scheme promising for topologically protected information processing.