Related papers: Building ideal paraxial optical skyrmions using ra…
We construct optical beams in free space with robust skyrmionic structures in their polarization fields, both in the electric spin vector for near-circular fields and in the polarization direction for near-linear fields, and for both Bloch…
Vector light beams, characterised by a spatially varying polarisation, can exhibit localised structures reminiscent of the Skyrmions familiar from the study of magnetic media. We present a theory of such Skyrmions within paraxial optics,…
We discuss an ansatz for Skyrme fields in three dimensions which uses rational maps between Riemann spheres, and produces shell-like structures of polyhedral form. Houghton, Manton and Sutcliffe showed that a single rational map gives good…
The Skyrmion number of paraxial optical Skyrmions can be defined solely via their polarization singularities and associated winding numbers, using a mathematical derivation that exploits Stokes's theorem. It is demonstrated that this…
We apply two very different approaches to calculate Skyrmions with baryon number B less than 23. The first employs the rational map ansatz, where approximate charge B Skyrmions are constructed from a degree B rational map between Riemann…
Starting from approximate Skyrmion solutions obtained using the rational map ansatz, improved approximate Skyrmions are constructed using scaling arguments. Although the energy improvement is small, the change of shape clarifies whether the…
Skyrmions are highly stable chiral magnetic spin textures with non-trivial topology. They can act as quasi-particles that can be generated, manipulated and annihilated, and hold promise for future memory and logic devices. As of now,…
For paraxial light beams and electromagnetic fields, the Stokes vector and polarization matrix provide equivalent scalar measures of optical chirality, widely used in linear optics. However, growing interest in non-paraxial fields, with…
Polarization skyrmions are usually characterized through a unit Stokes vector field, which defines a map from the transverse plane to the Poincar\'e (Bloch) sphere and allows one to assign a skyrmion number under appropriate boundary…
Skyrmions are topologically stable quasiparticles that have been predicted and demonstrated in quantum fields, solid-state physics, and magnetic materials, but only recently observed in electromagnetic fields, triggering fast expanding…
Optical skyrmions are structured vector fields with nontrivial polarization topology and subwavelength-scale features. One common approach to generating optical skyrmions is the superposition of a zeroth-order Bessel beam and a higher-order…
Optical skyrmion serves as a crucial interface between optics and topology. Recently, it has attracted great interest in linear optics. Here, we theoretically introduce a framework for the all-optical generation and control of freespace…
Research at the frontier between optics and magnetism is revealing a wealth of innovative phenomena and avenues of exploration. Optical waves are demonstrating the capacity to induce ultrafast magnetism, while optical analogs of magnetic…
Topological defects play a key role in a variety of physical systems, ranging from high-energy to solid state physics. They yield fascinating emergent phenomena and serve as a bridge between the microspic and macroscopic world. A skyrmion…
Optical topologies in the form of Skyrmions have attracted significant interest of late, where their integer Skyrmion number has been shown to be robust to complex media. Here we create the first fractional Skyrmions by structuring light as…
We replace the familiar Stokes vector by a tensor. This allows us to introduce, for example, polar-coordinate components of the Stokes vector. From the tensor we can derive the skyrmion field for mapping the polarization in structured light…
Single fluorescent molecules, behaving as ideal electric dipole emitters, are powerful nanoscopic probes of complex optical fields. Here, this property is exploited to precisely map the polarization and vectorial structure of tightly…
This paper discusses multi-skyrmions on the 3-sphere with variable radius L using the rational map ansatz. For baryon number B = 3,...,9 this ansatz produces the lowest energy solutions known so far. By considering the geometry of the model…
Recently we have presented in hep-th/9811071 an ansatz which allows us to construct skyrmion fields from the harmonic maps of $S\sp2$ to $CP\sp{N-1}$. In this paper we examine this construction in detail and use it to construct, in an…
The skyrmion, which is characterised by a topological integer, is a structure that is topologically stable against local disturbances. The huge potential of skyrmions for use in magnetic storage systems has drawn considerable research…