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.