Three-dimensional optical vortex and necklace solitons in highly nonlocal nonlinear media

We demonstrate the existence of localized optical vortex and necklace solitons in three-dimensional (3D) highly nonlocal nonlinear media, both analytically and numerically. The 3D solitons are constructed with the help of Kummer's functions in spherical coordinates and their unique properties are discussed. The procedure we follow offers ways for generation, control, and manipulation of spatial solitons.