Weak-light ultraslow vector solitons via electromagnetically induced transparency

We propose a scheme to generate temporal vector optical solitons in a lifetime broadened five-state atomic medium via electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that this scheme, which is fundamentally different from the passive one by using optical fibers, is capable of achieving distortion-free vector optical solitons with ultraslow propagating velocity under very weak drive conditions. We demonstrate both analytically and numerically that it is easy to realize Manakov temporal vector solitons by actively manipulating the dispersion and self- and cross-phase modulation effects of the system.