Abstract
We consider the problem of formation of optical vortex solitons in a medium of three-level atoms, taking into account the local field effects. The principal possibility of formation of optical solitons controlled by an optical pump wave under the off-resonance Raman conditions of the lambda-type interaction scheme is predicted in an optically dense medium, i.e., in a hollow-core photonic-crystal optical fibre filled with a gas of cold atoms 87Rb.