Spin-orbit coupling of optical vector vortices in coherently prepared media

We investigate the propagation of an optical vector vortex weakly interacting with a coherently prepared atomic medium (phaseonium) in a three-level Λ configuration. The vector beam consists of vortex pulse pairs with right- and left-circular polarizations, corresponding to opposite spin angular momentum (SAM), and carrying opposite orbital angular momentum (OAM) charges l. We show that during the propagation of the vortex pairs, analytically obtained in the linear regime, the medium inherits the topology of the vortex pair, mapping the OAM onto a spatially structured atomic coherence. This mapping produces 2|l|-fold azimuthal transparency structures that reshape the beam intensity from a ring into a petal-like pattern. The OAM-structured atomic coherence induces a corresponding optical anisotropy within the medium, which feeds back into the propagating vector beam, resulting in optical spin-orbit coupling manifested as SAM exchange, rotation, and evolution of polarization textures. Depending on the initial ground-state population of the phaseonium, the polarization state evolves between left-circular, linear, and right-circular polarizations.