Topological first-order vortices in a gauged CP(2) model

We study time-independent radially symmetric first-order solitons in a CP(2) model interacting with an Abelian gauge field whose dynamics is controlled by the usual Maxwell term. In this sense, we develop a consistent first-order framework verifying the existence of a well-defined lower bound for the corresponding energy. We saturate such a lower bound by focusing on those solutions satisfying a particular set of coupled first-order differential equations. We solve these equations numerically using appropriate boundary conditions giving rise to regular structures possessing finite-energy. We also comment the main features these configurations exhibit. Moreover, we highlight that, despite the different solutions we consider for an auxiliary function β(r) labeling the model (therefore splitting our investigation in two a priori distinct branches), all resulting scenarios engender the very same phenomenology, being physically equivalent.