Related papers: Field-Programmable Topological Torons in Chiral Ne…
Toroidal modes in the form of so-called Hopfions, with two independent winding numbers, a hidden one (twist, s), which characterizes a circular vortex thread embedded into a three-dimensional soliton, and the vorticity around the vertical…
The presence of topological defects in apolar chiral liquid crystals cause orientational distortions, leading to non-uniform strain. This non-uniform strain generates an electric polarization response due to the flexoelectric effect, which…
Localized modes in one dimensional topological systems, such as Majonara modes in topological superconductors, are promising platforms for robust information processing. In one dimensional topological insulators, mobile topological solitons…
Disclinations lines play a key role in many physical processes, from the fracture of materials to the formation of the early universe. Achieving versatile control over disclinations is key to developing novel electro-optical devices,…
Rational control over the periodic arrangement of particles by means of external stimuli is a technologically important aspect of colloidal science with important physical underpinnings. Here, a robust structural control of particle…
The recently discovered three dimensional or bulk topological insulators are expected to exhibit exotic quantum phenomena. It is believed that a trivial insulator can be twisted into a topological state by modulating the spin-orbit…
Knotted fields in classical and quantum systems have long been recognized for their non-trivial topologies and particle-like behavior, but practical applications have been limited by the difficulty of stabilizing them. Recently, stable…
Solitons in liquid crystals have generated considerable interest. Several hypotheses of varying complexity have been advanced to explain how they emerge, and a consensus has not emerged yet about the underlying forces responsible for their…
Structured light fields embody strong spatial variations of polarisation, phase and amplitude. Understanding, characterization and exploitation of such fields can be achieved through their topological properties. Three-dimensional (3D)…
Topological transitions are fundamental phenomena in electronics, photonics, and quantum technologies. However, the scalability and tunability of Topological transitions in these systems have still been constrained by their material…
Morphogenesis of living systems involves topological shape transformations which are highly unusual in the inanimate world. Here we demonstrate that a droplet of a nematic liquid crystal changes its equilibrium shape from a simply-connected…
The chiral soliton lattice is an array of topological solitons realized as ground states of QCD at finite density under strong magnetic fields or rapid rotation, and chiral magnets with an easy-plane anisotropy. In such cases, topological…
When a nematic liquid crystal (LC) is confined on a self-closing spherical shell, topological constraints arise with intriguing consequences that depend critically on how the LC is aligned in the shell. We demonstrate reversible dynamic…
Dynamical topological solitons are studied in classical two-dimensional Heisenberg easy-axis ferromagnets. The properties of such solitons are treated both analytically in the continuum limit and numerically by spin dynamics simulations of…
Optical control of chirality in chiral superconductors bears potential for future topological quantum computing applications. When a chiral domain is written and erased by a laser spot, the Majorana modes around the domain can be…
Imagine a swarm of terrestrial robots that can explore an environment, and, upon completion of this task, reconfigure into a spherical ball and roll out. This dimensional change alters the dynamics of locomotion and can assist them to…
The external controllability of topological superconductors and Majorana fermions would be important both for fundamental and practical interests. Here we predict the electric-field control of Majorana fermions in two-dimensional…
The ability to dictate colloid motion is an important challenge in fields ranging from materials science to living systems. Here, by embedding energy landscapes in confined nematic liquid crystals, we design a versatile platform to define…
Handedness of the director twist in cholesteric liquid crystals is commonly assumed to be the same throughout the medium, determined solely by the chirality of constituent molecules or chiral additives, albeit distortions of the…
Topological photonics harnesses the physics of topological insulators to control the behavior of light. Photonic modes robust against material imperfections are an example of such control. In this work, we propose a soft-matter platform…