Topological Constraints on the Charge Distributions for the Thomson Problem
Other Condensed Matter
2009-11-11 v1 High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
The method of Morse theory is used to analyze the distributions of unit charges interacting through a repulsive force and constrained to move on the surface of a sphere -- the Thomson problem. We find that, due to topological reasons, the system may organize itself in the form of pentagonal structures. This gives a qualitative account for the interesting ``pentagonal buttons'' discovered in recent numerical work.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0603044,
title = {Topological Constraints on the Charge Distributions for the Thomson Problem},
author = {Alfredo Iorio and Siddhartha Sen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0603044},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
10 pages; dedicated to Rafael Sorkin on his 60th birthday