Stabilizing the Discrete Vortex of Topological Charge S=2

We study the instability of the discrete vortex with topological charge S=2 in a prototypical lattice model and observe its mediation through the central lattice site. Motivated by this finding, we analyze the model with the central site being inert. We identify analytically and observe numerically the existence of a range of linearly stable discrete vortices with S=2 in the latter model. The range of stability is comparable to that of the recently observed experimentally S=1 discrete vortex, suggesting the potential for observation of such higher charge discrete vortices.