Related papers: Weaving knotted vector fields with tunable helicit…
The curves of zero intensity of a complex optical field can form knots and links: optical vortex knots. Both theoretical constructions and experiments have so far been restricted to the very small families of torus knots or lemniscate…
We construct a new family of null solutions to Maxwell's equations in free space whose field lines encode all torus knots and links. The evolution of these null fields, analogous to a compressible flow along the Poynting vector that is both…
Braided vector fields on spatial subdomains homeomorphic to the cylinder play a crucial role in applications such as solar and plasma physics, relativistic astrophysics, fluid and vortex dynamics, elasticity, and bio-elasticity. Often the…
We consider the general nonvanishing, divergence-free vector fields defined on a domain in three space and tangent to its boundary. Based on the theory of finite type invariants, we define a family of invariants for such fields, in the…
Streamlines, vortex lines and magnetic flux tubes in turbulent fluids and plasmas display a great amount of coiling, twisting and linking, raising the question as to whether their topological complexity (continually created and destroyed by…
This paper concerns connections between dynamical systems, knots and helicity of vector fields. For a divergence-free vector field on a closed $3$-manifold that generates an Anosov flow, we show that the helicity of the vector field may be…
Using methods of high performance computing, we have found indications that knotlike structures appear as stable finite energy solitons in a realistic 3+1 dimensional model. We have explicitly simulated the unknot and trefoil…
Knots and knotted fields enrich physical phenomena ranging from DNA and molecular chemistry to the vortices of fluid flows and textures of ordered media. Liquid crystals provide an ideal setting for exploring such topological phenomena…
We prove the existence of knotted and linked thin vortex tubes for steady solutions to the incompressible Euler equation in R^3. More precisely, given a finite collection of (possibly linked and knotted) disjoint thin tubes in R^3, we show…
We construct a family of exact solutions to Maxwell's equations in which the points of zero intensity form knotted lines topologically equivalent to a given but arbitrary algebraic link. These lines of zero intensity, more commonly referred…
We give an explicit construction of complex maps whose nodal line have the form of lemniscate knots. We review the properties of lemniscate knots, defined as closures of braids where all strands follow the same transverse (1, $\ell$)…
Vortex stretching is a common feature of many complex flows, including turbulence. Experiments and simulations of isolated vortex knots demonstrate that this behavior can also be seen in relatively simple systems, and appears to be…
The idea that the knottedness (hydrodynamic Helicity) of a fluid flow is conserved has a long history in fluid mechanics. The quintessential example of a knotted flow is a knotted vortex filament, however, owing to experimental…
We study the relaxation of a topologically non-trivial vortex braid with zero net helicity in a barotropic fluid. The aim is to investigate the extent to which the topology of the vorticity field -- characterized by braided vorticity field…
Physical knot theory, where knots are treated like physical objects, is important to many fields. One natural problem is to give a knot a uniform charge, and analyze the resulting electric field and electric potential. There have been some…
Let S be a finite union of (pairwise disjoint but possibly knotted and linked) closed curves and tubes in the round sphere S^3 or in the flat torus T^3. In the case of the torus, S is further assumed to be contained in a contractible subset…
Models for astrophysical plasmas often have magnetic field lines that leave the boundary rather than closing within the computational domain. Thus, the relative magnetic helicity is frequently used in place of the usual magnetic helicity,…
We consider vector fields on knot/link complements in $S^3$ which are transverse to the fibres of a fibration of the complement over a circle. We prove that a large class of fibred knots/links, including all non-torus fibred 2-bridge knots,…
We present a new range of solutions of the Maxwell equations in vacuum in which the topology of the field lines is that of the whole torus knots set. Knotted electromagnetic fields are solutions of the Maxwell equations in vacuum in which…
Optical knots and links have attracted great attention because of their exotic topological characteristics. Recent investigations have shown that the information encoding based on optical knots could possess robust features against external…