Stabilization of vector vortex beams in thermal nonlinear media

We studied the stability dynamics of vector vortices – which consist of a fundamental Gaussian beam co-propagating with a higher-order vortex – in a thermal, nonlocal, nonlinear medium with cylindrical symmetry. Using linear stability analysis, we found that an unstable higher-order vortex can be stabilized by an incoherently coupled, relatively weak fundamental beam over a broad range of power ratios, even when the topological charge of the vortex component is extremely large. Numerical propagations for the vector vortices verified the predictions of linear stability analysis.