Chiral self-gravitating cosmic vortices

In the framework of general relativity, an exact axisymmetric (vortex) solution of the equations of motion is obtained for the SU(2) symmetric sigma model. This solution is characterized by the topological charge (winding number) and angular deficit. In the linearized approximation, the Lyapunov stability of vortices is proved and the deflection angle of a light ray in the gravitational field of the vortex (gravitational lens effect) is calculated.© 2005 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.